The U.S. government is also coming under growing pressure to abandon its plans. Last week, over 70 international organizations sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging the administration to “immediately halt plans to destroy these contraceptive supplies.”
A U.S. State Department spokesperson previously said that the stored products had been purchased under former President Joe Biden’s administration and could be “potentially … abortifacients” — substances that can induce an abortion. This could violate the so-called Mexico City Policy, he added.
The Mexico City Policy forbids U.S. aid from being sent to abortion providers and was reinstated by President Donald Trump in January.
Lists obtained by news outlets show that the stock does not include pills for medical abortions. Nonetheless, the policy prevents any support of any organizations that promote abortion, meaning other services such as providing contraceptives have also been impacted.
About 77 percent of the products, which are mostly long-acting contraceptives such as birth control pills, IUDs and hormonal implants, were earmarked for five African countries: the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and Mali, the IPPF said. Destroying these contraceptives would deny more than 1.4 million women and girls access to life-saving care.
Tanzania would be the country most impacted, the NGO added, as the products account for nearly one-third of the country’s total annual contraceptive needs. In total, activists say, the destruction of the stockpile could result in over 360,000 unintended pregnancies, 161,000 unplanned births, 110,000 unsafe abortions and 718 preventable maternal deaths.
Trump moved to dismantle USAID shortly after his January inauguration, scrapping over 80 percent of its programs. Leaders of international health NGOs previously urged the EU to step up to protect lifesaving health initiatives over what they see as a “moment of reckoning” amid Washington’s cuts to foreign aid.