US EditionTrump Administration Weighs Fate of $9M Stockpile of Contraceptives Feared Earmarked for Destruction
BELGIUM, AUG 1 – The U.S. plans to destroy $13.2 million in contraceptives citing legal concerns despite aid groups' offers to distribute them for free, raising criticism from health advocates.
- On Thursday, U.S. State Department deputy spokesman Tommy Pigott said the government plans to incinerate the supplies at a France facility using $167,000, rejecting offers from MSI Reproductive Choices and UNFPA to distribute or buy the over $9 million of U.S.-funded contraceptives stored in Geel, Belgium.
- Citing concerns under the Kemp-Kasten amendment and Mexico City policy, the U.S. President's administration froze aid in January, leaving contraceptive supplies in limbo.
- Reuters, citing seven sources, reports the warehouse in Geel, Belgium holds long-acting intrauterine devices , contraceptive implants and pills with shelf lives through 2031.
- European campaigners and lawmakers have intensified pressure on governments to intervene and save the supplies, while Belgium explored relocation but found no viable alternative.
- Campaigners warn that African women will pay the price if the $9.7 million US stockpile is destroyed, wasting U.S. taxpayers' funds and undermining U.S. leadership.
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They are still durable and intended for crisis areas – but the US government wants to burn contraceptives in France. There, the indignation becomes louder, and the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also intervenes.
France says it cannot block US plans to destroy contraceptives
France said Friday it could not seize $9.7 million (€8.4 million) worth of women's contraception products that the United States plans to destroy, after media reports suggested the stockpile would be incinerated in the country.
Belgian diplomats negotiate with the American authorities to prevent the destruction of contraceptive means worth $9.7 million that are stored in Geel, says the Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs. ...
While an American operation intends to incinerate the equivalent of about $10 million in equipment stored in Belgium, the Ministry of Health is replying this Friday, August 1st that it cannot act.
The Ministry of Health assures that the French authorities do not have the means to "requisition" contraceptive products to prevent them from being destroyed.
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