After President Donald Trump’s Administration cut five billion dollars in foreign aid in August, $9.7 million worth of birth control pills, IUDs, and hormonal implants have been sitting in a Belgian warehouse, collecting dust. The uncertainty of where these contraceptives stand comes from the Trump administration’s direction to destroy them.
The state department said that birth control products are “not” life-saving. In fact, the administration made false reports claiming the stockpile had been destroyed, confusing humanitarian organizations. These statements have now been retracted, however.
Although the department announced in June that they would spend $167,000 in taxpayer money to burn the contraceptives, regional authorities in Belgium said earlier this month that they came across the material. A spokesman for the Flemish minister, Tom Demeyer, said “local groups carried out inspections and found that no cargoes have been diverted for incineration.”
The contraceptives were planned to be sent to women in five African nations: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, and Mali. The U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, originally purchased the contraceptives to address family planning needs in these five low-income countries. On top of it, many of them were already facing contraceptive shortages in light of Trump’s dismantling of foreign aid.
One growing concern from Geel officials is the shelf life of these medical supplies, as they have expiration dates ranging from 2027 to 2031. One concern for the Trump administration is the location of the stockpile. It lies in the region of Flanders, where they have a ban on incinerating still-usable medical products. This means that the U.S. would have to request permission to destroy them. NPR reported that there have been no requests recently.
According to the International Planned Parenthood Federation, unsafe abortions are among the five leading causes of maternal deaths in Kenya. If these supplies were to be destroyed, the Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition stated that it would carry a human turmoil of 362,000 unintended pregnancies, 161,000 unplanned births, 110,000 unsafe abortions, and 718 preventable maternal deaths.
It was reported that over 70 U.S. and international organizations sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, urging him to halt the incineration plans. The last line reads, “We urge you to quickly reverse the decision to destroy these supplies and transfer these valuable commodities to a country or partner that can ensure they are delivered to women around the world.”
One big reason for the Trump administration’s decision to destroy contraceptives is that they do not want to support “abortion services.” The organizations also addressed that concern in their letter, stating, “These supplies do not include support for abortion services and are in full compliance with all U.S. foreign assistance laws, including the Kemp-Kasten amendment.”
The United Nations Population Fund defined the Kemp-Kasten amendment stating, “The Kemp-Kasten amendment, first enacted in 1985, is a provision of U.S. law that states that no U.S. funds may be made available to ‘any organization or program which, as determined by the president of the United States, supports or participates in the management of a program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization.'”
The U.S. has long been the largest bilateral donor to family planning, contributing $600 million annually, which accounts for approximately 40% of global donor funding. The cancellation of this aid and commitment has increased a pre-existing global funding gap from $167 million to $210 million across 32 countries.
Humanitarian organizations are urging individuals to maintain pressure on the governments of the U.S., France, and Belgium to prevent further destruction. As the future of these contraceptives hangs in the balance, the government of Belgium has appealed to the U.S. Embassy in hopes of distributing these products and not wasting them.