Trump administration to destroy birth control intended as aid

The Trump administration is set to destroy a large stockpile of U.S.-funded contraceptives stored at a warehouse in Belgium, which says it has “explored all possible options to prevent the destruction.”

The family-planning supplies, which include more than 50,000 intrauterine devices, nearly 2 million doses of injectable contraceptives, nearly 900,000 implantable contraceptive devices and more than 2 million packets of oral birth control, are worth about $9.7 million, according to an internal accounting in April, The Washington Post reported.

“The State Department confirms that a preliminary decision was made to destroy certain abortifacient birth control commodities from terminated Biden-era USAID contracts,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

“Only a limited number of commodities have been approved for disposal,” said the spokesperson, who spoke on the condition of anonymity under rules set by the department. “No HIV medications or condoms are being destroyed.”

Asked which of the contraceptives the State Department considered “abortifacients” - substances that induce abortions - the spokesperson did not respond.

Oral contraceptive pills, injectables, implants or IUDs are not considered abortifacients. They work by preventing conception - the creation of an embryo. Some abortion opponents argue that they could theoretically prevent an embryo from implanting in the uterine lining. But that’s not how they work.

The government of Belgium, the United Nations and humanitarian groups say they tried to stop the destruction of the contraceptives, which they say are needed in much of the developing world.

If they were distributed, Guttmacher Institute researcher Chelsea Polis said, they could provide pregnancy prevention for more than 650,000 women for up to one year and for 950,000 women for three to 10 years. The institute supports abortion rights.

The Trump administration is winding down much of the U.S. international aid apparatus and, like previous Republican administrations since Ronald Reagan, backing away from funding birth control.

The supplies were to have been distributed by the U.S. Agency for International Development. Their destruction will cost $167,000, the spokesperson said. USAID, by negotiating cancellations on pending orders of commodities, is avoiding $34.1 million in taxpayer costs, the spokesperson said.

The decision was first reported by conservative news site the Daily Wire. The timeline for destroying the supplies is unclear.

Lawmakers from both parties have objected to the plan. Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-New Hampshire) urged Secretary of State Marco Rubio last month to reverse the decision. Shaheen and Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) introduced legislation this month to prevent the destruction.

The State Department spokesperson cited the Mexico City policy, reinstated by President Donald Trump on his return to office, which prohibits aid to organizations that perform, provide referrals to or counsel patients on abortions. Since Reagan established the policy in 1985, it was been rescinded by each successive Democratic president and reinstated by each successive Republican.

The supplies were purchased as part of USAID’s Global Health Supply Chain Program, a 10-year, $9.5 billion contract that served more than 40 countries.

Chemonics, the USAID contractor that oversaw their procurement, referred questions to the agency. The Trump administration has moved the formerly independent government agency into the State Department.

A spokesperson for Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot said the government tried to negotiate an alternative.

“The Belgian government engaged in diplomatic discussions with the U.S. authorities and explored all possible options to prevent the destruction, including temporary relocation,” spokesperson Laurens Soenen told The Washington Post. “Despite these efforts, and with full respect for our partners, no viable alternative could be secured.”

Among the groups that expressed interest in taking possession of the contraceptives were the U.N. Population Fund and the International Planned Parenthood Federation.

“UNFPA was in conversation with Chemonics about purchasing the contraceptives but didn’t receive an answer from them,” UNFPA spokesman Eddie Wright said.

Micah Grzywnowicz, regional director of the International Planned Parenthood Federation European Network, said in a statement, that the decision “reflects a troubling disregard for the rights and well-being of those most in need, as well as a complete lack of basic empathy.”

“It’s the height of hypocrisy for a government to preach efficiency and cutting waste, only to turn around and recklessly destroy lifesaving supplies when the need has never been greater,” Grzywnowicz said in a statement.

MSI Reproductive Choices, which provides contraception and abortions in dozens of countries, also offered to pay to ship and repackage in conversations over the past few months, said Sarah Shaw, associate director of advocacy for the organization.

“The complete dismantling of the world’s largest donor for international family planning has been a catastrophe for the global supply chain of contraceptives,” Shaw said.

A congressional staff member who visited the warehouse last month said most of the contraceptives were marked to be distributed in Africa. Examining hundreds of boxes, they said, the earliest expiration date they saw was 2027.

The staff member and a former senior USAID adviser said a USAID official was scheduled to visit the warehouse this month to assess the supplies. Both spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter.

The State Department did not respond to questions about the trip.

It’s unclear how the supplies are to be destroyed. Expired items have been incinerated at a Veolia facility in France.

Evgeniya Mazalova, a spokeswoman for Veolia, a French energy, water and waste management firm, confirmed a contract with Chemonics for expired products, but said it did not cover the supplies to be destroyed.

The former senior USAID adviser estimated the supplies would take three to six months to burn, “unless they subcontracted to other high-incineration facilities to speed up the process.”

Alan Bornbusch, a former USAID division chief for the family planning program, who took a planned retirement earlier this year, said U.S.-funded contraceptives have been sent to high-incineration facilities in France.

“There are occasions when contraceptives have needed to be destroyed, for example, due to temperature, smoke or water damage,” Bornbusch said. “These products have to be incinerated twice, because they will release hormones when burned, and you don’t want to release hormones into the environment.”

Another former USAID official said he expected to see more to come.

As the Trump administration began dismantling USAID, former inspector general Paul Martin said, staff members raised “deep concerns about $480 million of food aid that was then in boats, ports and warehouses in danger of being spoiled, damaged or costing the U.S. excess storage costs.”

“The reported destruction of these commodities shouldn’t be thought of as what slipped through the cracks,” said Martin, who was fired after reporting impacts of the downsizing. “This is the first example of massive amounts of self-imposed waste that we are about to witness.”