Why U.S. Funded Contraceptives Worth $10 Million Are Being Burned In France While Poor Nations Plead For Help | World News
French contraceptive combustion: In a warehouse in Belgium, unused birth control pills, intrauterine devices (II) and contraceptive implants, financed by American taxpayers and designed for women in the poorest countries in the world’s poorest countries, are preparing for destruction. Approximately $ 10 million worth of materials do not end soon. Some of them carry shelf lives until 2031. However, in France, they are still burned at a cost of over $ 160,000.
This waste is the result of a deliberate election by the US government. President Donald Trump, after ordering the closure of foreign aid programs of the US International Development Agency (USAID) in January, thousands of boxes of reproductive health sources were stranded.
The aid groups ran. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the reproductive health NGOs have offered to buy contraceptives, and to send them where they need the most, for example, the only thing these materials are often the only thing that prevents non-secure abortions.
But Washington said no. Repeatedly.
Offers are back, cut by rights
Sarah Shaw, who works with MSI reproductive options, said that his establishment is ready to re -pack up and send materials to US taxpayers free of charge. We were willing to follow the rules, but something shocking was said: the materials would only be sold at full market price.
“This sounds like an ideological attack on reproductive rights, not about this money,” Shaw told Reuters.
The aid groups rejected women’s access to human consequences, to basic contraceptive care, to the increase in the life of unwanted pregnancies and to increase in dangerous abortion attempts. However, the US government refused to bend. The boxes stayed without touching. And then the decision came: to burn everything.
The pressure, politics and fears of abortion connections
A source close to the negotiations said that Trump administration was afraid that materials may result in abortion services, which was afraid of something that could technically violate the rules of funding. The packaging stamped with the USAID logo became another point of adhesion. The government did not require risk even if this risk is far.
Belgian officials tried to negotiate in Brussels. They asked whether the materials could be re -directed or distributed. “Despite these efforts and fully respecting our partners, a valid alternative cannot be guaranteed. Sexual and reproductive health should not be subject to ideological restrictions,” he said. However, their defenses fell into the deaf ears.
Very little, too late
Even in Washington, MPs tried to intervene late. A few brought legislation this month with the last ditch effort to stop the destruction. However, the internalists admit that it may be too late.
Reuters also received an internal USAID grade since April. He clearly recommended that consumables be delivered to another agency immediately to prevent waste and costs. This advice was ignored.
Now, $ 10 million birth control will increase smoke. Not because it is wrong. Not because it is old. But politics has won the victory over people, and ideology outweighs than empathy.
