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The decision arouses an outcry. Since the American administration announced that he wanted Destroy a vast stock of contraceptives femaleNGO, feminist and elected associations denounce a “mess” and a new attack on women’s rights.
These contraceptives are currently stored in Belgium but They could be cremated in Francewhere voices rise to call Emmanuel Macron not to be “accomplice of retrograde policies”.
What does the Trump government announced precisely?
The information was revealed on July 18 by The Guardian. Citing two sources in the American Congress, the British daily says that the Trump administration has decided to destroy female contraceptives, mainly IUDs and implantsworth $ 9.7 million (8.3 million euros).
These contraceptives, intended for women living in the most disadvantaged countries, especially in sub -Saharan Africa, are stored in a warehouse in Geel, Belgium. They must be cremated “at the end of July” in France, specify the two sources mentioned.
Solicited by AFP, a spokesperson for the US State Department confirms that a “preliminary decision has been made to destroy certain abortive contraceptive products from contracts” of the American agency for international development (USAID)passed under the presidency of Joe Biden.
The destruction of these products will cost $ 167,000, he said.
Why Washington wants to destroy them?
The announcement of this destruction is part of the policy led by Donald Trump since his first term in 2017. Barely elected, the American president had signed A decree restoring “Mexico City” policy.
Initially entered into force under the presidency of Republican Ronald Reagan during an international conference in the capital of Mexico in 1984, this policy prohibits the financing of foreign NGOs practicing abortion or actively militant in its favor.
Added to this is the dismantling of the USAID and the downward revision of American international aid, amputated on July 18 by some $ 9 billion.
Questioned by The Guardianthe US State Department justified its decision by invoking the “Mexico City Policy”. He also highlighted the issue of Product expiration dates – But according to press information, contraceptives actually expressed between April 2027 and September 2031.
What alternatives to destruction?
The international organization MSI Reproductive Choices said it had proposed “To buy, recondition and manage logistics” At his expense “ensuring that the products reach people in need” – but “these efforts have been rejected several times”.
Same proposal made-without success-by the International Federation for Family Planning (IPPF) which said it was ready to “collect products in Brussels, transport them and recondition them in its warehouse in the Netherlands, then distribute them to women in need around the world, all this without any cost for the American government ”.
The Belgian Foreign Ministry for its part indicated to AFP that it “initiates diplomatic steps with the United States Embassy in Brussels” and being “exploring all possible tracks to avoid the destruction of these products, including temporary relocation solutions”.
“France cannot make itself an accomplice”
In the United States, the Democratic Senator of the New Hampshire Jeanne Shaheen denounced A “mess” And presented, with the Democratic Senator of Hawaii, Brian Shatz, a bill to prevent their destruction.
In terms of feminist associations, the IPPF denounced an act of “intentional reproductive coercion” in a manifesto also signed by the tricolor family schedule. “France has a moral responsibility for acting,” said its president Sarah Durocher.
A government which proudly registers the right to abortion in its constitution [en mars 2024, NDLR.] must also work to protect contraception and the rights of young girls beyond its borders.
An opinion shared by environmentalists who, in an open letter addressed on Saturday to Emmanuel Macron, ask the head of state to intervene urgently to prevent destruction.
Our country cannot be accomplice, even indirectly, of retrograde policies.
Source: AFP.
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