A US plan to destroy women’s contraception products reportedly worth $9.7 million has spurred growing outcry in France, where the products could be incinerated. The contraceptives – which were intended for some of the world’s poorest countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa – were purchased by the US foreign aid agency USAID under former president Joe Biden.
His successor Donald Trump’s administration, which has slashed foreign aid and pursued anti-abortion policies, confirmed earlier this month that it plans to destroy the contraceptives, which have been stored in a warehouse in the Belgian city of Geel. According to several media reports, the unexpired products were planned to be incinerated in France by the end of July by a company that specialises in destroying medical waste.
Sarah Durocher, the head of the French women’s rights group Family Planning, told AFP that some contraceptives have already left the Belgian warehouse. “We were informed 36 hours ago that the removal of these boxes of contraceptives had begun,” Durocher said on Thursday. “We do not know where these trucks are now – or whether they have arrived in France,” she added. “We call on all incineration companies not to destroy the contraceptives and to oppose this insane decision.”
‘Absurdity’
French company Veolia confirmed to Agence France-Presse (AFP) that it has a contract with the US firm Chemonics, USAID’s logistics provider. But Veolia emphasized that the contract concerns “only the management of expired products, which is not the case for the stockpile” in Belgium. French disposal company Suez meanwhile told AFP that it “does not provide waste management services for all contraceptive products purchased by USAID.”
The products, which are mostly long-acting contraceptives such as IUDs and birth control implants, are reportedly up to five years away from expiring.
The US plan has provoked outcry in France, where rights groups and left-wing politicians have called on their governments to prevent the contraceptives from being destroyed. “France cannot allow itself to become the stage for such actions. A moratorium is necessary,” wrote five NGOs in an op-ed in Le Monde, condemning the “absurdity” of the US decision.
Charles Dallara, the grandson of the politician who legislated in favour of the contraceptive pill in France in 1967, went on French television on Friday to urge President Emmanuel Macron to act. Macron has yet to make an official statement on the contraceptives, but the country’s health ministry has said it is “closely monitoring the situation.”
A petition launched by French feminist groups and unions on Wednesday calling for the contraceptives to be saved has been signed by more than 10,000 people.
