The French government has said it is closely monitoring a US plan to destroy millions of dollars of contraceptives stocked in Europe, following outrage from French feminists, rights groups and family planning organisations who called it a wasteful attack on women's rights.
The Guardian reported that Donald Trump's administration plans to destroy $9.7m of contraceptives, mostly long-acting devices such as IUDs and birth control implants, believed to be in a warehouse in Belgium but possibly moved to France for incineration. The products were bought under public health programmes run by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and were probably intended for women in Africa.
A US state department spokesperson confirmed that a preliminary decision was made to destroy certain birth control products from terminated Biden-era USAID contracts, at a cost of $167,000, adding that no HIV medications or condoms are being destroyed. Trump's administration dismantled USAID in January.
The French health ministry said it supports the Belgian authorities' will to find a solution to avoid destruction, stating that defence of sexual health and reproductive rights is a foreign policy priority for France. A collective of rights groups, feminist organisations and trade unions in France launched a petition to stop the destruction, calling it an unfair and sexist decision that constitutes economic and human waste.
French Green leader Marine Tondelier signed an open letter urging President Emmanuel Macron to intervene, saying France cannot be complicit in retrograde policies. Socialist lawmaker Céline Thiébault-Martinez warned that France would lose credibility with women if it failed to speak out. The Belgian government said it is exploring all possible avenues to prevent destruction, including temporary relocation, but could not confirm whether the products have been moved to France.
International organisations MSI Reproductive Choices and the International Planned Parenthood Federation offered to purchase and manage logistics at their own expense to ensure the products reach those in need, but both offers were rejected by the US.
