“Cruel, Disgraceful and Needless Waste Of Taxpayer Dollars”: No One Happy About Trump Admin Burning Nearly $10 Million Worth Of Food and Contraceptives

The cuts quickly affected over 177 recipient countries, cutting off critical supplies of food and medicine, and shutting down treatment centers to tackle HIV and the prevention of other diseases. Amid the cuts, the Trump administration also ordered the burning of about 500 metric tons of food meant to feed families and children in Afghanistan and Pakistan, which sparked outrage online.

Now, in their continued shift away from providing foreign assistance, the Trump administration is set to incinerate $9.7 million worth of contraceptives intended for poor nations, despite offers from the United Nations and a nonprofit organization to purchase or cover the cost of repackaging and shipping the supplies, according to a Reuters report.

Per the report, the US government will spend $167,000 to incinerate the supplies, which include contraceptive implants, pills, and intrauterine devices that are due to expire between April 2027 and September 2031. The US State Department said no condoms or HIV medications would be destroyed. The supplies, currently stored in a Belgian warehouse since the January aid freeze, are being shipped to France for incineration.

In a statement with Reuters, the Belgian foreign ministry said they “explored all possible options to prevent the destruction, including temporary relocation” with US authorities. “Despite these efforts, and with full respect for our partners, no viable alternative could be secured. Nevertheless, Belgium continues to actively seek solutions to avoid this regrettable outcome,” they said.

According to NPR, the $9.7 million in contraceptives could have provided pregnancy prevention for over 650,000 people for up to one year, and as many as 950,000 people for three to ten years, depending on the contraceptive method.

Axios reported that a US State Department spokesperson cited several policies that prohibit the government from providing abortion-related assistance to foreign organizations as the reason for refusing to donate the contraceptive supplies. Reuters, citing a source, reported that the decision was made in accordance with the Mexico City policy, an anti-abortion measure Trump reinstated in January that bars the US from funding or working with organizations that offer or support access to abortion.

The decision has drawn widespread backlash. Two Democratic senators, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and Sen. Brian Schatz, have introduced legislation, the “Saving Lives and Taxpayer Dollars Act,” to try to prevent foreign assistance commodities like food and medical devices, including the $10 million in contraceptives, from being destroyed or wasted. “This isn’t just wasteful, it’s cruel,” Sen. Shaheen wrote on X.

Beth Davidson, a county legislator in New York, called the story “bizarre” and warned that without access to contraceptive care, more women and girls will be forced to turn to unsafe abortions, increasing the risk of maternal death. She wrote, “Women and girls abroad with unintended pregnancies will seek unsafe abortions. Women and girls will die. Trump would rather waste taxpayer dollars than prevent maternal deaths. Just more of the hypocrisy and misogyny that will forever define the Trump administration and everyone who stands by him. Shameful.”

The public is not too pleased either.

“It would actually cost less to deliver them than to burn them, so this is just pure spite,” one person said on Reddit. “Hell, offer to sell them for about the cost of burning them, at least someone would benefit.”

[…]

Via https://ca.news.yahoo.com/pure-evil-everyone-losing-over-225356892.html