France Under Pressure To Stop $9.7m Of Usaid Contraceptives Being Destroyed

The French authorities has said it is intimately monitoring a US scheme to perchance destruct millions of dollars of contraceptives stocked successful Europe aft outrage from French feminists, authorities groups and family readying organisations astatine what they called a wasteful onslaught connected women’s rights.

The Guardian reported this month that Donald Trump’s management planned to destruct $9.7m of contraceptives held successful a Belgium storage which could beryllium moved to France for incineration. They are mostly long-acting contraceptives specified arsenic IUDs and commencement power implants which had been bought nether nationalist wellness programmes tally by nan US Agency for International Development and were astir apt intended for women successful Africa.

A US authorities section spokesperson told Agence France-Presse this week that “a preliminary determination was made to destroy” definite commencement power products from “terminated Biden-era USAID contracts”.

Trump’s management dismantled USAID, nan country’s overseas assistance armbody, successful January.

The spokesperson said nan demolition would costs $167,000 and “no HIV medications aliases condoms are being destroyed”.

The contraceptives, stored successful a storage successful Geel successful Belgium, were reportedly planned to beryllium incinerated successful France, though location has been nary confirmation of this by France. France and Belgium are nether unit to forestall immoderate destruction.

The French wellness ministry said successful a statement: “We are pursuing this business intimately and we support nan will of nan Belgian authorities to find a solution to debar nan demolition of contraceptives.

“The defence of intersexual wellness and reproductive authorities is simply a overseas argumentation privilege for France.”

This week a corporate of authorities groups, feminists organisations and waste and acquisition unions successful France launched a petition to extremity nan demolition of nan contraceptives. “We won’t let this unfair and sexist determination to spell ahead, it’s some an economical and quality waste,” they said.

The French Green leader, Marine Tondelier, signed an unfastened missive calling connected nan French president, Emmanuel Macron, to intervene to extremity nan contraceptives from being destroyed. “Our state cannot beryllium complicit, moreover indirectly, successful retrograde policies,” nan missive said.

Céline Thiébault-Martinez, a Socialist lawmaker, told France Inter power connected Thursday that if France grounded to speak retired connected nan demolition of these contraceptives it would “lose credibility pinch women”.

Sarah Durocher, nan caput of a French family readying group, said: “France has a civilized work to act.”

Charles Dallara, whose leader grandfather Lucien Neuwirth backed nan French rule authorising oral contraceptives successful 1967, wrote an unfastened missive to Macron successful which he urged nan president not to “let France go complicit successful this scandal”.

The world organisation MSI Reproductive Choices said it had offered to “purchase, repackage, and negociate logistics astatine our expense, ensuring nan products scope those successful need”, but nan connection was rejected.

The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) made a akin connection astatine “no costs to nan US government” that was besides turned down, AFP reported.