The U.S. government is preparing to destroy a $9.7 million stockpile of USAID-purchased contraceptives originally intended for global aid. The contraceptives in the stockpile could provide at least one year of coverage to over 650,000 women and longer-term protection for even more.
The State Department has confirmed these plans, which would cost $167,000 of taxpayer dollars. The current administration’s freeze on USAID aid has prevented the release of these contraceptives and left them at risk of destruction instead of distribution.
The unused supply, currently sitting in warehouses in Belgium, includes injectable contraceptives, IUDs, implants, and oral contraceptives. Most of these products are well within their shelf life and could serve hundreds of thousands of people in countries facing severe shortages in reproductive healthcare.
A representative from the State Department has said that “Only a limited number of commodities have been approved for disposal. No HIV medications or condoms are being destroyed,” but the decision to destroy any viable contraceptives raises serious questions about the U.S. government’s commitment to global public health.
International humanitarian groups like MSI Reproductive Choices and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) offered to purchase, repackage or distribute the products at no cost to the U.S. government. However, those efforts were rejected.
The decision has drawn widespread condemnation from global health advocates and international partners. French and Belgian officials have expressed concern asking for the European Commission to intervene about the destruction taking place on European soil.
The decision to proceed with destruction on top of other recent restrictions to foreign aid has prompted new legislation. The Saving Lives and Taxpayer Dollars Act, introduced by Sen. Shaheen (D-NH), would mandate that federal agencies prioritize the donation or redistribution of medical supplies, preventing the destruction of usable resources. The bill asserts that destroying foreign assistance commodities that could aid those in need is unethical and against U.S. interests as global health can benefit the U.S. economy.
The current administration’s decision to spend hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to destroy perfectly usable contraceptives, rather than allow them to be distributed, reveals a deep hypocrisy. Officials claim to support fiscal responsibility and global aid, yet their actions do the opposite.
This contradiction is even more striking when considering that these contraceptives were already funded, manufactured, and shipped under existing USAID contracts. They are not surplus or expired. They are usable, life-saving supplies now being discarded because of a political agenda that prioritizes anti-abortion ideology over public health. Destroying them is not just a waste of public money, it undermines decades of bipartisan investment in global reproductive care.
At a time when access to contraception remains a critical unmet need for millions around the world, the planned incineration of usable contraceptives is a moral failure. The Saving Lives and Taxpayer Dollars Act offers a path forward. But it will require sustained public pressure to ensure that reproductive healthcare is treated not as a political weapon, but as the essential, life-affirming right that it is.