I’ve been sitting in storage in a Belgian warehouse for months amid a debate over whether the birth control pills we fund, worth millions of dollars, can be spared from distribution to the poor.
The stash is reported to contain more than 50,000 intrauterine devices, approximately 2 million injectable contraceptives, and more than 2 million oral contraceptives, stored in a small city in Ziel near Antwerp.
The contraceptive products were originally intended to be distributed to lower-income countries where the US Organization for International Development (USAID) is now being dismantled.
Many international projects and partnerships have been abandoned following the dissolution of USAID, which aims to improve health, reduce poverty and promote human rights and democracy in low-income countries.
The current plan for contraceptives left in Ziel’s frontiers is to incinerate them.
This is not the first time the US government has chosen such a dramatic solution. After budget cuts, food rations that can be fed for a month in warehouses around the world, reportedly were fed for a month, as Reuters recorded.
The decision to destroy contraceptives has attracted acute criticism from civil society groups.
“For governments to preach efficiency and reduce waste is a high degree of hypocrisy, recklessly destroying life-saving supplies when the need is bigger than ever. This is not merely inefficient.
The IPPF has made public that it will collect supplies from Ziels, repackage them in a Dutch warehouse and distribute them to women in need around the world.
Several other organizations, including the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the reproductive choice of the global charity MSI, have also expressed their willingness to purchase or redistribute stockpiles. All offers reportedly were rejected by the Trump administration.
The Belgian government also confirmed with Euronows, which is in contact with the US embassy in Brussels.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is seeking every measure to prevent the destruction of these stocks, including temporary relocations,” a spokesman told Euronows.
As supplies reportedly will be removed by France for destruction, the French Green Party politician, Recologist, appealed to President Emmanuel Macron to intervene.
“Donald Trump’s anti-choice agenda cannot deploy our territory. So today France must arbitrate with the committee,” MEP Melissa Camara (France/Greens), one of the letter’s signatories, told Euronews.
She added that the destruction of these birth control pills put women all over the world at risk, especially in Africa, the original destination of supplies.
Kamala is also working on another letter to the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and other members of the Commission, including Commissioner Hajja Rabib, which includes a portfolio that includes sexual and reproductive health and rights.
A spokesperson told Euronows that the Commission “cautiously warned the letter and acknowledged the concerns raised.”
They added that the EU remains strongly committed to promoting sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), including family planning, and that investment in SRHR is a key contributor to social and economic development.
“We continue to monitor the situation closely and explore the most effective solutions,” the spokesman said.
