What started out as a humanitarian effort has now become a global controversy. A State Department spokesperson has confirmed the U.S. government has made a “preliminary decision” to destroy $9.7 million worth of U.S.-purchased birth control products — including long-term contraceptive implants, pills, and IUDs — that were meant to be sent to low-income countries. Originally part of a foreign assistance program carried out by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the plan to ship these products to nations in need was put on hold as the Trump administration dismantled USAID operations throughout 2025. Now, with no USAID to handle the distribution, the U.S. plans to send the contraceptives — which are currently being stored in Belgium — to a medical waste facility in France to be incinerated, a move that will cost an additional $167,000 in taxpayer dollars.
According to several reports, multiple organizations attempted to buy the supplies or offered to handle the shipping of them — including MSI Reproductive Choices and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) — but no deals have been reached. “MSI offered to pay for repackaging, shipping and import duties but they were not open to that,” Sarah Shaw, MSI’s Associate Director of Advocacy, told Reuters. “We were told that the U.S. government would only sell the supplies at the full market value.”
The decision to burn birth control is facing widespread controversy.
ICYMI, this news comes amid confirmation that the U.S. destroyed 500 metric tons of expired food aid, with the explanation that the food was no longer safe for people to eat. However, according to numerous reports, most of the birth control products set to be destroyed don’t expire until 2028 or 2029; the earliest reported expiration date is April 2027. The plans for destruction are reportedly set to be carried out starting at the end of July 2025 — nearly two years before the first products would be deemed unsafe to use.
“These are essential, lifesaving supplies that would have supported reproductive autonomy and prevented unsafe abortions and maternal deaths — being wasted and destroyed at U.S. taxpayers’ expense, despite offers from global partners to distribute them to women and families in need,” Chelsea Polis, principal research scientist at the Guttmacher Institute, told NPR. Polis also noted to NPR that, depending on the method, the sheer volume and type of contraceptives in storage — which are primarily long-lasting types of birth control — could provide pregnancy prevention for more than 650,000 people for up to a year, and for 950,000 people for three to 10 years.
Many critics of this plan claim it has less to do with the U.S. cutting back on spending and more with the Trump administration’s stance on reproductive rights. “Contraceptives are essential and lifesaving health products,” Avril Benoît, CEO of Doctors Without Borders (also known as Médecins Sans Frontières, or MSF) USA, said in a statement. “MSF has seen firsthand the positive health benefits when women and girls can freely make their own health decisions by choosing to prevent or delay pregnancy — and the dangerous consequences when they cannot. The U.S. government’s decision to incinerate millions of dollars’ worth of contraceptives is an intentionally reckless and harmful act against women and girls everywhere.”
Can the decision be reversed?
People in both Belgium and France are reportedly urging their governments not to be complicit in the destruction of these products. In a statement shared with Reuters, the Belgian foreign ministry said its government has spoken with the U.S. and “explored all possible options to prevent the destruction, including temporary relocation.” However, the statement continued, “Despite these efforts, and with full respect for our partners, no viable alternative could be secured. Nevertheless, Belgium continues to actively seek solutions to avoid this regrettable outcome.” The statement also added, “Sexual and reproductive health must not be subject to ideological constraints.”
Over in the States, two U.S. Senators, Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Brian Schatz (D-HI), introduced a bill that would prevent the unnecessary destruction and waste of foreign assistance items, which would include food, medicine, and medical devices. According to a press release, the bill — which is called the “Saving Lives and Taxpayer Dollars Act” — is directly aimed at the nearly $10 million in birth control products currently at risk, but also seeks to save other items, such as the emergency food supplies that are being stored in a USAID warehouse in Houston.
“At a moment when the Trump administration has made devastating cuts to foreign assistance, it is disappointing that the State Department would sign off on spending money to actually destroy paid-for commodities that would save lives and are waiting to be deployed,” Shaheen said in the press release. “Food and family planning commodities are desperately needed in conflict affected countries, like Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo where famine is taking hold. Women are at high risk for sexual violence in conflict settings.” Schatz added, “Intentionally destroying health care products or letting food and medication that the United States government has already paid for as part of our foreign assistance efforts rot and expire in warehouses is absurd. It’s a total waste of taxpayer dollars and is needlessly costing lives around the world.”
Considering the typically slow process required to turn a bill into a law, this legislation is not likely to pass before the plans to burn the birth control are carried out. However, those who are looking to speak up on this matter can call their representatives in Congress to urge them to take action.