00:00The US administration's decision to destroy nearly $10 million worth of women's contraceptive
00:07products has sparked furious condemnation from doctors and aid groups. They have slammed the
00:13move as a wasteful attack on women's rights. The contraceptives are being stored in Belgium
00:19and are reportedly planned to be incinerated in France. Both European countries are under
00:25pressure to prevent the destruction. So what has the US announced? On 18th of July, British
00:32newspaper The Guardian cited two US Congress sources as saying that President Donald Trump's
00:37administration plans to destroy $9.7 million worth of contraceptives, which are mostly long-acting,
00:46such as IUDs and birth control implants. The contraceptives, intended for some of the
00:52world's poorest countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, are stored in a warehouse
00:57in the Belgian city of Geel. According to the Guardian report, they are to be incinerated at the
01:03end of July. A US State Department spokesperson told AFP this week that a preliminary decision
01:09was made to destroy certain birth control products from terminated Biden-era US aid contracts.
01:16Trump's administration dismantled USAID, the country's foreign aid arm, after returning to the White
01:23House in January, replacing Joe Biden. The State Department spokesperson said that the destruction will
01:29cost $167,000 and no HIV medications or condoms are being destroyed. But why does the US want to destroy
01:40contraceptives? The State Department spokesperson reportedly pointed to a policy that prohibits providing
01:46aid to non-governmental organizations that perform or promote abortions. The Mexico City policy,
01:52which critics call as the Global Gag Rule, was first introduced by President Ronald Reagan
01:58in 1984 and has been reinstated under every Republican president since.
02:04The Trump administration has also splashed foreign aid, with the Senate this month approving
02:09a package that cut around $8 billion in international funding, much of it intended for USAID. Research has
02:17estimated that USAID cuts will lead to the deaths of 14 million people by 2030.
02:24Earlier this month, the US also incinerated nearly 500 metric tons of high-nutrition biscuits,
02:30which were meant to keep malnourished children in Afghanistan and Pakistan alive.
02:35Trump has also reportedly moved to restrict abortion access in the US, taking credit for the Supreme
02:40Court overturning the nationwide right to abortion in 2022. The US State Department also suggested to
02:47The Guardian that the contraceptives were nearing the end of shelf life. However,
02:52media reports have since said that the products expire between April 2027 and September 2031.
03:00So what are the alternatives? Belgium's foreign ministry reportedly said that it has initiated
03:07diplomatic efforts with the US embassy in Brussels about the contraceptives. The ministry said that
03:13Belgium government is exploring all possible avenues to prevent the destruction of these products,
03:18including temporary relocation solutions. The international organization MSI Reproductive
03:24choices said that it had offered to purchase, repackage and manage logistics at our expense,
03:30ensuring the products reach those in need. But this offer was repeatedly rejected. The international
03:37planned Parenthood Federation made a similar offer at no cost to the US government. That was also turned down.
03:48So what are people saying? New Hampshire's Democratic
03:51Senator Jeanne Shaheen pointed to the Trump administration's stated goal of reducing government
03:56waste, saying that the contraceptives plan is the epitome of waste, fraud and abuse. Shaheen and
04:02Democratic Senator Brianne Schatz has introduced a bill aiming to prevent further US aid being wasted.
04:09The International Planned Parenthood Federation said that the contraceptive plan is an intentional act of
04:15reproductive coercion. Doctors Without Borders called it a callous waste. MSI Advocacy Director
04:21Sarah Shaw said that it was an ideological assault on reproductive rights and one that is already
04:27harming women. The head of the French family planning group Sarah Durotcher observed that last year
04:33France became the first country to enshrine the right to abortion in its constitution. She said that
04:39France has a moral responsibility to act. French Green leader Marine Tondelier signed an open letter
04:45calling on President Emmanuel Macron to stop the contraceptives from being destroyed. The letter read,
04:52Our country cannot be complicit, even indirectly, in retrograde policies.
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