The 9.7 Million Dollar Question: What Will Happen to USAID’s Birth Control Supplies?

A policy change by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) during the Trump administration had ripple effects that are still being felt. At the start of Trump’s second term, the U.S. announced it would end financial support for family planning programs in developing countries, arguing that they did not qualify as “lifesaving”. This decision was part of the broader dismantling of USAID and has left a devastating gap in global reproductive health. The United States provided 40 percent of the funding for family planning programs in 31 developing countries. This funding would have provided more than 47 million women contraceptive devices and medical services. This has left a huge gap in global family planning resources.

The impact is severe in Africa, where 77% of the products were reserved for five African nations: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, and Mali. Many of the nations were already facing contraceptive shortages due to the dismantling of USAID. In Kenya, where unsafe abortions are among the leading causes of maternal death, facilities now face running out of supplies in less than five months.

Before its dismantled, USAID purchased $9.7 million worth of contraceptives, including birth control pills, intrauterine devices and hormonal implants. They have been sitting in a warehouse in Belgium for months since the funding was terminated. In June, the State Department ordered USAID to destroy the contraceptives, a process estimated to cost $167,000. USAID was directed to organize the destruction of the contraceptives. The destruction is projected to result in 362,000 unintended pregnancies, 161,000 unplanned births, and 718 preventable maternal deaths.

The Belgian government pushed back against the destruction. Their Prime Minister wrote to the Secretary of State to persuade him not to destroy the contraceptives and the Belgian authorities hoped to facilitate the sale of the products. Several different organizations had expressed willingness to store, ship, and distribute the products. In fact, local law prohibits the destruction of usable medical products, meaning the U.S. would have needed permission to carry out its plan.

Confusion has only deepened. In late July, a State Department spokesman stated that the government was still deciding what to do. Last week, a spokeswoman for USAID told The New York Times that the contraceptives had already been destroyed while also incorrectly suggesting that the products could induce abortions. None of the products in the warehouse were classified as abortifacients and U.S. law prohibits USAID from obtaining such drugs. A few days later, Belgian authorities entered the warehouse and confirmed the stockpile was still intact.

For now, the fate of the contraceptives remains uncertain. But what is clear is that millions of women around the world are at risk.

Article Written by Gianna Calcagno

Sources:

Stephanie Nolen, Millions of Women Will Lose Access to Contraception as a Result of Trump Aid Cuts, N.Y. TIMES (Apr. 1, 2025), available at https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/01/health/usaid-contraception-cuts.html (last visited Sept. 23, 2025).

Rachel Treisman, The U.S. said it would burn $9.7 million of birth control. Its fate is still unclear, NPR (Sept. 16, 2025), available at https://www.npr.org/sections/goats-and-soda/2025/09/16/nx-s1-5511304/birth-control-foreign-aid-destruction-belgium-warehouse (last visited Sept. 23, 2025).

Stephanie Nolen, Jeanna Smialek, & Edward Wong, $10 Million in Contraceptives Have Been Destroyed on Orders From Trump Officials, N.Y. TIMES (Sept. 11, 2025), available at https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/11/health/usaid-contraceptives-destroyed-trump.html (last visited Sept. 23, 2025).

Jeanna Smialek, Stephanie Nolen, & Edward Wong, Belgian Authorities Say $10 Million Supply of Birth Control Has Not Yet Been Destroyed, N.Y. TIMES (Sept. 12, 2025), available at https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/12/world/europe/trump-birth-control.html (last visited Sept. 23, 2025).