Politicians And Aid Groups Push to Save $10M in USAID Contraceptives From Destruction 

Lawmakers and international organizations are pressuring France, Belgium, and the European Union to prevent the destruction of nearly $10 million worth of contraceptives owned by the now-defunded US Agency for International Development (USAID) currently held in Belgium, Politico reported Tuesday. 

The supplies are currently stored in a warehouse in the northern Belgian town of Geel, and include 26 million condoms, hundreds of thousands of long-acting birth control implants, and other products. 

The supplies were originally intended for women in war zones and refugee camps, according to the Brussels Times. 

US officials said last month that the decision to destroy them follows the reinstatement in January of the Mexico City Policy, which bars funding to groups providing abortion services. They added that the stockpile includes “potentially abortifacients” – substances that can induce an abortion. 

The supplies are currently set to be incinerated in France, with many items nearing their expiration dates. 

However, lawmakers and women’s rights groups across the EU are urging authorities to stop their destruction, saying the move was “unjustifiable.” 

French feminists and family planning organizations described the move as a “wasteful attack” on women’s rights. French Green Party leader Marine Tondelier urged President Emmanuel Macron not to be “complicit, even indirectly, in (regressive) policies.”  

A French diplomatic source said France supports Belgian efforts to prevent the destruction. 

Meanwhile, Belgian Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Prévot said Belgium has initiated diplomatic talks with the US Embassy in Brussels and is “exploring all possible avenues” to save the products, including their temporary relocation.  

The US is “still in the process of determining the way forward” about the contraceptives, State Department Spokesperson Tommy Pigott said. 

Non-governmental organizations, including Médecins Sans Frontières and the International Planned Parenthood Federation, have offered to distribute the contraceptives.  

The dismantling of USAID prompted calls for the EU to step up aid distribution and protect lifesaving health initiatives. 

If European countries or the bloc save the contraceptives and pay for them, it will be the second time this year they have moved to step in for the US outside of military spending for Ukraine, analysts said. 

In May, the EU approved an emergency $6.3 million lifeline to Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty after the Trump administration cut federal funding to the Czechia-based US broadcaster and Voice of America, Euractiv noted.