'Outrageous act of cruelty': Trump admin 'destroys' nearly $10M worth of contraceptives; Belgian minister dismisses report

The Trump administration has destroyed birth control pills and other contraceptives, valued at about $9.7 million, destined for people in low-income countries, and stockpiled in Belgium, the New York Times said in a report; however, a Belgian minister refuted it.

On Thursday, a spokeswoman for USAID, which is now being wound down by Russell Vought, the head of the White House Office of Management and Budget, said in a statement to The Times that the contraceptives had been destroyed, and falsely suggested that they induced abortion.


“President Trump is committed to protecting the lives of unborn children all around the world,” the statement said. “The administration will no longer supply abortifacient birth control under the guise of foreign aid.”

By law USAID is barred from procuring abortifacients. None of the products in Belgium were abortifacients, according to inventory lists obtained by The Times. Hormonal implants and similar items prevent pregnancy by stopping ovulation or fertilization. Staff had repeatedly made this clear to State Department officials, the documents show.

“The deliberate destruction of nearly $10 million worth of contraceptives, under the blatantly false pretense that they are abortifacients, is an outrageous act of cruelty,” said Beth Schlachter, director of U.S. external relations for MSI Reproductive Choices, an organization that had repeatedly offered to take over the distribution of the supplies rather than see them destroyed.

“This decision will cost lives, derail progress in global health and strip millions of people of the basic tools they need to plan their families and protect their health,” she said.

However, a spokesman for Flemish environment minister Jo Brouns called the report "incorrect." He said such products would need a special permit to be incinerated and that "to date, no such authorisation has been requested or granted".

"Environment department inspectors carried out on-site checks this morning and confirmed that no lots had been sent for incineration," the spokesman said, denying a New York Times report that they had been destroyed.