The Donald Trump administration has plans in place to destroy millions of dollars’ worth of taxpayer-funded contraceptives, which are meant for women in low-income countries.
While there have been fears of Trump banning birth control in the US, they seem unfounded for now, since no such directive is in place. However, there have been reports that Trump’s budget cuts have threatened access to birth control for many women in the US.
Here’s a look at what contraceptives the US government is destroying and how much it will cost them.
What contraceptives are the US govt destroying and why?
Among the contraceptives the US government is planning to destroy are IUDs, implants and pills. They cost approximately $9.7 million, NPR reported.
These have been stuck in a Belgian warehouse since Trump scrapped the US Agency for International Development and froze foreign aid earlier this year.
Doctors without Borders and reproductive healthcare nonprofit MSI United States told the publication that these products have an expiration date ranging from 2027 to 2031.
These contraceptives were meant for girls and women in low-income nations, specially sub-Saharan Africa. However, now they will be incinerated in Europe.
However, the State Department told the publication that only a ‘limited’ number of commodities would be disposed of, and these don’t include HIV medication or condoms.
How much will it cost the US to destroy the contraceptives?
The State Department said that it would cost the US $167,000 to destroy the contraceptives at a French facility which handles medical waste, NPR reported.
However, this plan has been met by backlash from the medical community.
Chelsea Polis, principal research scientist at the Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion rights, told the publication that contraceptives worth $9.7 million could have provided pregnancy prevention to over 650,000 people for one year or 950,000 people for ten years, depending on how it was used.
While some entities also offered to buy these contraceptives with the aim of distributing them, the Trump administration has refused to sell. The State Department has labelled these contraceptives as ‘abortifacient birth control commodities’, which means they cause the termination of pregnancies.
US has a policy called the ‘Mexico City Policy’, which was brought by President Ronald Reagan in 1984, which restricts foreign nongovernmental bodies from using US federal funds to offer abortion services or related information. President Donald Trump brought back this policy at the start of his second term.
Trump budget cuts impact birth control access back home
Under the Trump administration, Title X – which was set up by President Nixon is reportedly under threat.
Nixon, at the time, had said “It is my view that no American woman should be denied access to family planning assistance, because of her economic condition.”
While the 2025 US budget provided $285.6 million in Title X funds, a group of 15 public health organizations are now suing the Trump government over it.
NPR reported that the groups are arguing that the Trump government illegally withheld these Title X funds, thus jeopardizing access to services, including birth control, for over 800,000 people.