Trump Administration’s Decision to Destroy $9.7 Million of Contraceptives for Low-Income Countries Sparks Outrage and Confusion, Humanitarians Plead for Salvation of Life-Saving Supplies

For several months, a stockpile of $9.7 million worth of birth control intended for women in low-income countries has remained stationary in a Belgian warehouse, with the potential destruction looming due to the Trump administration’s freeze on foreign aid.

In July, the State Department announced plans to spend approximately $167,000 in taxpayer funds to incinerate these unexpired contraceptives at the end of the month, a decision that sparked global outrage from humanitarian organizations. These organizations were willing to purchase and distribute the products themselves, but the administration’s deadline passed without confirmation of the stockpile’s destruction, causing confusion about its current status.

Sarah Shaw, associate director of advocacy at MSI, expressed her concerns, stating, “Nobody benefits by this product being burned… It’s just a catastrophe on every single level. So it’s like, why not just hand it over quietly, hand it over to a third party and let them deal with it?”

However, last week, the New York Times reported, citing a USAID statement, that the contraceptives had been destroyed. Yet, a subsequent report revealed that Belgian authorities confirmed the stockpile was still in the warehouse. The Belgian foreign ministry has not responded to queries regarding the status of the contraceptives.

In response to this situation, a protest will be held outside the American Embassy in Brussels on Thursday by the Flemish sexual health organization Sensoa, against the planned incineration of contraceptives stored in Geel and the refusal to sell them to Belgium.

PAI, a nonprofit organization, has stated that there is confusion surrounding the stockpile’s fate due to conflicting information from various sources. They blame the U.S. government for creating this uncertainty among civil society and the general public.

According to the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), 77% of the products were designated for five African nations—Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, and Mali—many of which are already grappling with contraceptive shortages as a result of the Trump administration’s dismantling of USAID.

If the single stockpile is destroyed, it could lead to 362,000 unintended pregnancies, 161,000 unplanned births, 110,000 unsafe abortions, and 718 preventable maternal deaths, according to the Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition (RHSC).

Over 70 U.S.-based and international organizations sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio last Friday, urging him to abandon the destruction plans and facilitate the delivery of these lifesaving commodities, including contraception, to those in need.

“Right now, women and girls around the world are desperately seeking out contraception and facing empty shelves,” they wrote. “Meanwhile, this administration is choosing to spend taxpayer dollars to destroy effective health and medical supplies that are wanted and needed and that could save and transform lives.”

The groups also criticized the U.S. government for rejecting offers to purchase or ship the supplies while spreading misinformation about contraception. They are particularly concerned about the State Department’s characterization of the birth control products as “abortifacients,” which cause the termination of a pregnancy, despite no abortion methods being included in the stockpile.

Rachel Milkovitch, a global health policy specialist with the humanitarian medical aid group Médecins Sans Frontières USA (Doctors Without Borders), suggests that the U.S. government has several responsible options to prevent the supplies from being destroyed, such as selling them to NGOs offering distribution assistance or donating them directly to African countries’ ministries of health.

“There is $10 million worth of product that has already been paid for that could just be moved out to countries,” says MSI’s Shaw. “And local health systems will use this product, it will go to good use.”

Getting the stock—equivalent to ten truckloads—from Belgium to other countries, particularly in Africa, could take up to six months due to logistical challenges like shipping and customs clearance, as well as distribution within the country. Some countries may only accept medicines with at least two years before their sell-by date, which could pose a problem for the contraceptives set to expire in 2027. However, waivers are possible and likely in this case, given the extreme shortages these countries are experiencing.

The U.S. has historically been the largest bilateral donor to family planning, contributing $600 million annually, accounting for almost half of global donor funding, according to the RHSC. However, this has changed with the second Trump administration. The freeze on foreign aid in January specifically halted family planning services because they were not considered “life-saving,” despite extensive evidence showing that these services reduce maternal and newborn deaths.

This freeze, along with the administration’s dismantling of USAID, has left a significant gap in global family planning resources, leading to shortages in many sub-Saharan African countries. The destruction of this stockpile would further exacerbate these shortages.

One group, IPPF, reports that in Kenya—where unsafe abortions are among the five leading causes of maternal deaths—the U.S. funding freeze has left facilities with less than five months’ supply of contraceptives, instead of the required 15 months.

IPPF also warns of a shortage of contraceptives, particularly implants, in Tanzania, which has directly impacted clients’ choices regarding family planning uptake. They state that the products in the now-stranded stockpile represent “a terrifying 28% of the total annual need of the country.”

Shaw, of MSI, notes that her teams on the ground will have to start turning women away, which will be “life changing” for those women. “It means girls are going to drop out of school. Women are going to have unsafe abortions. Women are going to die in childbirth,” she says. “I mean, this is really a whole generation of women and girls that the trajectory of their life has been changed very quickly because of this.”

While aid groups insist that the contraceptives being held in Belgium are urgently needed, they also acknowledge that their distribution would not fill the void left by the U.S.’s withdrawal from this sector entirely. PAI has estimated that there is approximately $40 million worth of contraceptives held up at various points in the global supply chain, including a stockpile worth $1.5 million being held in Dubai.

Milkovitch suggests that it’s crucial to consider all the contraceptives that are held up—whether in transit, warehouses, or elsewhere—and not just the $9.7 million stock in question. “If we save these supplies, if we prevent their destruction, it doesn’t sort of start or end with this,” she says. “There’s still going to be contraceptive stockouts in the places that previously benefitted from U.S.-supposed family planning and reproductive health programs.”