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U.S. Government To Burn $10 Million in Taxpayer-Funded Contraceptives & 500 Tons of Life-Saving Food Aid for Poor Nations
The Trump Administration Chooses Incineration for Life-Saving Supplies, Racking Up Hefty Disposal Fees
Since the foreign aid freeze in January 2025, the Trump Administration has repeatedly chosen to incinerate critical supplies rather than sell them to our allies or distribute them to those in need.
The disposal costs are racking up huge bills for American taxpayers—and depriving innocent children and families from the life-saving aid that we’ve already paid for.
To be clear— these are pro-life contraceptives like IUDs and birth control pills which were earmarked to help lower birth rates in countries stricken by poverty and hunger and allow families the chance to feed the children they already have.
The contraceptives have been sitting in a Belgian warehouse since Trump froze foreign aid in January, but they are still perfectly good. They won't expire until between April 2027 and September 2031, meaning they have years of shelf life remaining. This extended viability made them attractive to international buyers who could have provided some return on the taxpayer investment.
But the Trump administration has rejected multiple offers from international organizations willing to purchase the supplies, instead opting to spend an additional $167,000 in taxpayer money to incinerate the stockpile at a medical waste facility in France.
The United Nations' reproductive health agency offered to buy the entire stockpile outright, while the non-profit MSI Reproductive Choices volunteered to pay for repackaging and shipping costs. Both offers were declined, with the U.S. government reportedly demanding "full market value" - a price point that made negotiations impossible.
The Belgian government confirmed they "explored all possible options to prevent the destruction," suggesting alternative approaches existed that could have been more financially responsible to U.S. taxpayers.
Trump Administration Ordered the Destruction of Emergency Food Aid Too
This comes on the heels of the US government ordering the destruction of 500 metric tons of emergency food aid —enough to feed about 1.5 million children for a week—in a warehouse in the Middle East. The high energy biscuits — used primarily to provide immediate nutritional needs for children in crisis situations — had been stored in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to respond to emergencies.
According to sources familiar with the matter, part of the problem stems from the USAID branding on the supplies. The administration didn't want USAID-branded materials distributed elsewhere, but rather than exploring cost-effective solutions like rebranding, they chose the most expensive option: complete destruction.
In the case of the contraceptives, the logistics alone are substantial - dozens of truckloads will be needed over at least two weeks to transport the supplies from the Belgian warehouse to the French incineration facility, all at taxpayer expense.
Trump Administration Chooses Incineration for Pro-Life Contraceptives Over Cost Recovery, Adding $167,000 Disposal Fee
Most recently, American taxpayers are footing the bill for a costly decision that will see nearly $10 million worth of U.S.-funded contraceptives destroyed rather than sold or donated to recover costs for the federal government.
Sometime near the end of the Biden administration, USAID spent about $800,000 on the high-energy biscuits. American taxpayers paid $180,000 to incinerate the food after foreign aid freezes stopped it from being distributed.
Why Are We Wasting Perfectly Good Resources?
Join Us Asking Foreign Governments to Protect Our Tax Dollars from Going Up in Flames
As Americans and Pro-Life Christians, we can’t abide by this atrocious waste of our tax dollars. Our money has already been spent on providing life-saving food aid and pro-life contraceptives to vulnerable communities. We demand those resources be delivered so that they can help those in need! Our government has ignored our pleas, so we are asking the governments of France and Belgium to steward our hard-earned contributions wisely and refuse to light them aflame.