The Trump administration in Washington wants to burn millions of dollars' worth of American contraceptives stored in Belgium. But in doing so, they are "burning lives and money", argues the Flemish expertise centre for sexual health, Sensoa.
For months, $9.7 million worth of contraceptives (birth control pills, implants and injectables) meant for women in low-income countries has been gathering dust in a warehouse in Geel, Antwerp, allegedly destined for destruction, as a result of the US government's freeze on foreign aid.
Last week, the White House told The New York Times that the stockpile had been destroyed by the American development aid agency USAID on the administration's orders. A day later, however, the Belgian authorities said that they had entered the warehouse and confirmed that the contraceptives were still there.
Today, Sensoa and several Planned Parenthood organisations are holding a protest outside the American Embassy in Brussels "against the planned incineration of contraceptives stored in Geel and the refusal to sell them to Belgium".
"We want to make our voices heard. We truly find this a cruel, morally reprehensible decision," Boris Cruyssaert, spokesperson for the Flemish expertise centre for sexual health Sensoa, told The Brussels Times.
The protestors will carry "death crosses", which will quantify the consequences of what they call a "disastrous decision" for women in the Global South.
'War on women'
According to the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), three-quarters (77%) of the products were earmarked for five African nations (the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and Mali). Following the Trump administration's earlier dismantling of USAID (the United States Agency for International Development), many of these countries are already facing contraceptive shortages, activists claim.
"Trump is waging a war on women," said Cruyssaert. "He does not want women to have control over their own bodies or anything reproduction-related. So it fits nicely into his narrative to portray contraception as abortifacients." The Brussels Times has approached the US Embassy in Belgium for comment on this matter.
According to figures by the Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition (RHSC), burning these contraceptives will lead to around 362,000 unplanned pregnancies, 161,000 unplanned births, 110,000 unsafe (including illegal and dangerous) abortions, and 718 preventable pregnancy-related deaths.
"The decision violates internationally accepted reproductive rights. It leaves even more women without control over if, when, and how many children they have, and how long they have between pregnancies," Sensoa claimed.
Illustration image of contraceptives. Credit: Belga/Herwig Vergult
When the New York Times initially reported the White House's claims that the stockpile had been destroyed, the newspaper quoted a government statement saying that Trump is "committed to protecting the lives of unborn children worldwide" and the US Government "will no longer provide abortifacient contraceptives under the guise of foreign aid".
The stockpile in Geel contains millions of packets of oral contraceptive pills, and hundreds of thousands of implantable and injectable contraceptives. These devices are all meant to prevent pregnancy, and are not used for abortions (which can only happen after conception).
Ideally, the contraceptives would be shipped to the countries they were originally intended for, but Cruyssaert is no longer counting on the US to do this. "We want the US to release the contraceptives, so international aid organisations can distribute them to countries with health centres that currently have to turn women away because they do not have enough contraceptives available."
"We hope that the Belgian and Flemish governments explore all possible avenues to make sure these supplies end up with the people who need them the most," Cruyssaert said.
