Imagine millions of dollars’ worth of perfectly usable birth control including pills, IUDs, and implants being destroyed and burned to ashes. This is not dystopian fiction. It is happening now.
The US government’s recent decision to incinerate nearly $9.7 million worth of contraceptives stored in a warehouse in Belgium is more than a bureaucratic blunder. It is a deliberate act of violence against women in the Global South and war-driven areas, where these supplies could have transformed lives. This is not just waste but an attack on reproductive justice.
These contraceptives were procured under USAID’s family planning programs during the Biden administration. However, the harmful Global Gag Rule was reinstated. This rule, created during the Trump era, cuts US funding to organizations that provide or even discuss abortion. Because of this, the current administration ordered the destruction of these contraceptives. This destruction came at an extra cost of $167,000 instead of allowing them to be distributed.
Offers from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and MSI Reproductive Choices to repackage and distribute these contraceptives have been ignored.
The message is clear: reproductive health is being weaponized for ideological battles.
This isn’t about expired products or logistics. It’s about power
The US wields enormous influence in global health funding. It is using reproductive health supplies as a political bargaining chip. The consequences reverberate far beyond American borders.
Think for a moment: What does $9 million worth of contraceptives represent?
According to FP2030, a global partnership dedicated to family planning, from July 2023 to July 2024, modern contraception averted 143 million unintended pregnancies worldwide. This number means thousands of girls stayed in school, fewer unsafe abortions occurred, and countless women exercised autonomy over their reproductive lives.
Thus, destroying these supplies means more unintended pregnancies, more maternal deaths, and more young women forced into unwanted parenthood.
The ripple effect on global health
When contraceptive supplies vanish, clinics in sub-Saharan Africa close their family planning programs. Outreach workers in rural Asia must turn away those seeking help. Adolescents in Latin America lose access to youth-friendly reproductive health services.
The Global Gag Rule not only blocks abortion funding but disrupts all sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) programs. This leads to widespread defunding across the Global South. The UK is slashing development budgets and donor fatigue affects the European Union. These are not simple budget cuts. They are life-altering decisions that hurt the most marginalized: women, girls, and queer communities who already face barriers to healthcare.
So the question is who pays the price? This destruction is not an abstract political debate but it is a direct blow to bodily autonomy.
It is the right of a woman in Malawi or Zambia to decide when to have children. It is a teenager in Tanzania’s chance to avoid a life-threatening pregnancy. It is the reality of frontline health workers, often women themselves, who must tell patients the contraceptives they need no longer exist because of “policy.”
Let us be honest. This is an ideological battle masquerading as bureaucratic necessity.
It is a global backlash against gender equality, where right-wing forces use state power to undo feminist gains.
Africa and South Asia are at the epicenters of the crisis
According to the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), the destruction of these contraceptives could result in 174,000 unintended pregnancies and 56,000 unsafe abortions in just five countries. These numbers represent lives lost, health systems strained, and futures cut short.
Millions of women in these regions still lack access to contraception. They face high adolescent birth rates and maternal mortality. In many African countries, progress on family planning remains fragile.
South Asia faces similarly profound challenges. These challenges are shaped by entrenched gender inequalities, economic instability, and cultural barriers. In countries like India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan, women’s reproductive choices are heavily restricted.
For example, in Pakistan, only about one in three women can independently make decisions regarding their reproductive health. The 2025 UNFPA State of World Population Report highlights stark realities like a mother dying from pregnancy-related causes every 45 minutes. Though nearly one-third of married women use modern contraception, 16% still have unmet needs.
These challenges demonstrate how structural and cultural barriers amplify the damage wrought by international aid cuts and restrictive policies.
Why the silence from the Global North?
Far-right, anti-gender politics are rising globally. Attacks on reproductive rights have intensified. This is true not only domestically but also through foreign policy. The destruction of contraceptives is part of a broader backlash.
But it is not only the United States at fault. France and Belgium, where these supplies are stored, have publicly condemned the decision. They say they tried to stop the planned destruction. Despite their stated support for gender equality, their efforts have not stopped the incineration. The European Union largely watches from the sidelines.
Some US senators, like Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan, have spoken out against the plan. However, their voices have struggled to gain significant traction. Moreover, a few advocacy groups and feminist organizations have launched campaigns to halt the destruction. Still, these efforts remain fragmented and have not stopped the setback.
This situation reveals how even vocal opposition within governments can be sidelined. It leaves the urgent demands of reproductive justice marginalized on the global stage. It exposes colonial power structures in global health aid.
White-majority governments decide not only what aid is given but also when it is withdrawn or destroyed.
Feminist futures become conditional as they are dependent on political ideology and who holds power. So, what now?
We must be angry.
But anger alone is not enough.
Feminists across Africa, Latin America, and South Asia are resisting. Community-based movements build care systems, distribute vital information, and demand accountability. They fight to decolonize aid and shift power to those who know their communities best.
The question remains: Will the rest of the world listen?
We must be loud, uncompromising, and internationalist in our feminist response. We cannot accept that burning millions in reproductive health supplies is “unfortunate” but inevitable. Because if we let this slide quietly, it will happen again.
This is a global feminist emergency. Silence is not an option.
Noor ul Sabah
Noor ul Sabah is a feminist researcher focused on intersectional approaches to gender, technology, and governance. Her work explores how power and identity shape experiences of violence, migration, and citizenship.
