The Trump administration told The New York Times … that it had destroyed millions of dollars’ worth of birth control pills and other contraceptives destined for people in low-income countries.
But when the authorities in Belgium, responding to the report in The Times, obtained authorization to enter the warehouse that had been holding the supplies …, the stockpile was still there ….
The pills, intrauterine devices and hormonal implants, valued at about $9.7 million, had been purchased by the United States Agency for International Development before it was largely dismantled this year. Trump administration officials in June ordered the supplies destroyed, after the State Department said that contraception was not “lifesaving”….
The back and forth reflects the confusion that continues as the U.S. government works to shut down U.S.A.I.D., pulling back from its long-held role in aiding development around the world ….
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It also illustrates the geopolitical sensitivity of the issue: While the Trump administration has been pushing to destroy the contraceptives, officials in Belgium have been hoping to facilitate their sale or transfer so that they could eventually be used in low-income countries.
