'Callous Waste': Doctors Without Borders Condemns Trump Plan to Destroy $9.7 Million Worth of Contraceptives
The CEO of Doctors Without Borders USA accused the Trump administration of being "willing to burn birth control and let food supplies rot... to push a political agenda."
International humanitarian assistance organization Doctors Without Borders on Thursday hammered the Trump administration's plan to destroy nearly $10 million of contraceptives that are badly needed throughout the world.
As The Guardian reported late last week, the Trump administration has decided to destroy $9.7 million worth of contraceptives that had been set to be delivered overseas as part of the foreign aid programs that it has been working to shut down.
"The contraceptives are primarily long-acting, such as IUDs and birth control implants, and were almost certainly intended for women in Africa, according to two senior congressional aides, one of whom visited a warehouse in Belgium that housed the contraceptives," wrote The Guardian. "It is not clear to the aides whether the destruction has already been carried out, but said they had been told that it was set to occur by the end of July."
In a statement condemning the decision, Doctors Without Borders described the Trump administration's actions as "callous waste that puts the health and lives of women and girls at risk."
"Contraceptives are essential and lifesaving health products," Avril Benoît, CEO of Doctors Without Borders USA, said. "[Doctors Without Borders] has seen firsthand the positive health benefits when women and girls can freely make their own health decisions by choosing to prevent or delay pregnancy—and the dangerous consequences when they cannot. The U.S. government's decision to incinerate millions of dollars' worth of contraceptives is an intentionally reckless and harmful act against women and girls everywhere."
Benoît accused the U.S. government of "manufacturing" the crisis by showing itself "willing to burn birth control and let food supplies rot, risking people's health and lives to push a political agenda."
The destruction of the contraceptives is part of the Trump administration's efforts to shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), an agency established in 1961 under President John Kennedy that was intended to build American diplomatic power and goodwill across the world during the Cold War with the Soviet Union.
The decision to wind down USAID and other foreign aid programs has already had dire humanitarian consequences around the world.
A recent report from UNAIDS, the United Nations agency dedicated to combating the spread of HIV around the globe, warned that the Trump administration's drastic reduction of foreign aid funding to the United States President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has been a "systemic shock" to organizations trying to stop the spread of HIV. The report estimates that if American funding for HIV prevention collapses entirely, it would result in 6 million additional infections and 4 million additional deaths over the next four years alone.
"This is not just a funding gap—it's a ticking time bomb," said Winnie Byanyima, executive director of UNAIDS. "We have seen services vanish overnight. Health workers have been sent home. And people—especially children and key populations—are being pushed out of care."
