The White House ordered the incineration of the equivalent of 9.7 billion dollars worth of contraceptive pills, IUDs and implants, blocked in a Belgian warehouse for months. More than an insignificant political whim, these decisions and the ensuing debates reveal a significant ideological divide around sexuality and women’s right to control their bodies.
A dangerous backlash: Trump targets women’s sexual rights
In the wake of the dismantling of US international development aid funds (USAID) and an anti-abortion policy led by the Trump administration, global public health tools are being cornered, their room for maneuver reduced like a shackle.
Officially, incineration is based on the application of an old federal rule that has fallen into disuse: the 1984 Mexico City policy. Relaunched by Trump in January under the name “Global Gag Rule”, it bans the funding of foreign activist organizations that advise and guide women who wish to have abortions. USAID’s spokesperson interviewed by the New York Times states that the administration "is committed to protecting the lives of unborn children everywhere in the world" and "will no longer provide contraception that could be framed as abortion under the guise of foreign aid." Here, it is the intrauterine device that is targeted, yet its alleged abortive role is not formally recognized by the WHO, which classifies it as a means of contraception. Regardless of the qualification, stock from USAID contracts was destined for regions of the world where access to abortion is very insecure or even illegal, in "war zones" and "refugee camps," according to Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen.
Many rescue attempts... foiled
Faced with this immense mess, several international organizations had proposed to buy back the stocks to save them: the Trump administration swept these proposals aside, deciding instead to destroy these products for an estimated cost of 167,000 dollars. In France, although activists called on the head of state to prevent the destruction of these contraceptives, the Ministry of Health says it is powerless: the stock does not concern either "drugs of major therapeutic interest" or a "supply shortage"; no requisition is possible. This event highlights the subjection of Europe to the United States in terms of public health.
A case turning into a diplomatic imbroglio
An article in the New York Times, dating from September 11, 2025, claimed the total destruction of the stock by the Trump administration. However, the Flemish cabinet of the Environment and Agriculture and numerous feminist associations, scrutinizing for months each movement of entry or exit from the warehouse of Geel, deny the information to Libération. Jo Brouns, in charge of the Ministry, told this media outlet that "the department’s law enforcement department [...] conducted on-site inspections and confirmed that no shipment had been sent to incineration." The entire stock remains, at present, intact, he assures. Moreover, the Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs, questioned on this subject on France Inter, claims to be following this matter "closely" thanks to "sustained and numerous diplomatic démarches to the United States embassy in Brussels, as well as to the US State Department."
Destruction or government inaction, the situation remains pending, similarly to the rights and lives of thousands of women, at the mercy of Trumpism. The silence of Europe on this subject is a further freedom given to the US government, "to do what they want," says Malika Roelants, member of the March 8 collective.
By Nils Galès & Ulysse Marcillaud
Translation by Lucie Petit
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