Emails detail confusion in State Department over Trump plan to destroy contraceptives

“There is no one here that knows definitively what is in the warehouse,” one official wrote of a USAID storage facility in Belgium as its contents were left to expire.

July 14, 2026
By Adam Taylor and Meg Kelly

Newly disclosed emails reveal confusion at the State Department during the Trump administration’s push last year to destroy almost $10 million worth of family planning commodities in a Belgian warehouse that were intended for distribution in some of the world’s poorest nations.

U.S. diplomats in the region were left in the dark about the supplies sitting in the warehouse in Geel, while a senior official privately shared erroneous information that suggested some of the contraceptives could be used to induce abortions.

Continued: https://archive.is/hZ8Nb
(https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/07/14/emails-detail-confusion-state-department-over-trump-plan-destroy-contraceptives/)

The Dangerous Unraveling Of The United States’ Family Planning Safety Net

Since taking office, the Trump administration has inflicted chaos on Title X, the only federal program that supports the provision of comprehensive reproductive health care to low-income people.

Amy Friedrich-Karnik and Megan L. Kavanaugh
July 14, 2026

Every person, regardless of income or insurance status, deserves the chance to create the family they want on their own timeline. For more than 50 years, the Title X program—the only federal program that supports the provision of comprehensive reproductive health care to low-income people—has been dedicated to serving that mission. Title X was signed into law by a Republican president and has long received bipartisan support. However, today, the goal of ensuring that everyone has access to high-quality reproductive health care faces an unprecedented attack from the Trump administration.

While Title X has been underfunded in recent years—and took a massive hit under the first Trump presidency—it has shown resilience and continues to provide high-quality reproductive health care. In 2023 alone, Title X served 2.8 million people.

Continued: https://www.healthaffairs.org/content/forefront/dangerous-unraveling-united-states-family-planning-safety-net

UK: The Anti-Abortion Movement Is Coming for Contraception Too

There is a pattern here, and we are calling it out.

09 Jul 2026
Alisa Berry Ryan

This week, reproductive rights news has been full of the same old anti-abortion playbook: spread stigma, muddy the facts, pretend healthcare is dangerous, and then act shocked when people demand easier access to basic reproductive care.

The latest target? The morning-after pill.

Emergency contraception works best the sooner it is taken. Yet access still depends on whether your local pharmacy is open, whether you can travel, whether you can pay, and whether you are forced into a conversation at a counter when what you need is safe, effective, time-sensitive healthcare.

Continued: https://abortionrights.org.uk/the-weekly-spotlight-the-anti-abortion-movement-is-coming-for-contraception-too/

09.07.2026

Commentary

Alisa Berry Ryan

College of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare

emergency contraception

USA – Medicaid funding is resuming for Planned Parenthood after being cut off for most of a year

By GEOFF MULVIHILL
July 6, 2026

Planned Parenthood and two smaller regional abortion providers are resuming billing Medicaid for services other than abortion after being cut off for most of a year.

The defunding, which was mandated in President Donald Trump’s big tax and policy law last year, has been blamed in the closure of multiple clinics as well as a reduction in the number of Planned Parenthood patients being screened for breast cancer or tested for sexually transmitted infections.

Continued: https://apnews.com/article/defunding-abortion-providers-0647d9303a1df48c244206bfb66f97a2

06.07.2026

News

Evelyn Kieltyka

Maine Family Planning

Locked Away and Left to Expire: The Trump Administration’s Destructive Denial of Contraceptive Care

Samira Damavandi, Jessica D. Rosenberg, Guttmacher Institute
June 22, 2026

The Trump administration has wasted $434,317 in taxpayer dollars since January 2025 to store contraceptives that it refuses to distribute to women and girls in low-income countries. A report from the Office of Inspector General of US Agency for International Development (USAID) reveals that the administration has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in storage and transportation costs for the $9.7 million worth of family planning supplies that it abandoned in Belgium rather than allowing them to be used. (The supplies were originally purchased by USAID.) With every additional month that passes after June 2026, the administration will spend over $24,000 to store these products, which include birth control pills, implants, injectable contraceptives and IUDs.

This wasteful misuse of US government resources is part of the fallout from the administration’s disastrous and chaotic dismantling of USAID last year, which has already denied tens of millions of people in low-income countries access to the family planning services on which they relied to improve their health and futures.

Continued: https://www.guttmacher.org/2026/06/locked-away-and-left-expire-trump-administrations-destructive-denial-contraceptive-care

22.06.2026

Commentary

Guttmacher Institute

Saving Lives and Taxpayer Dollars Act

UNFPA

United Nations Population Fund

US Agency for International Development

FIGO launches the Advocating for Safe Abortion project in Guinea

June 17, 2026

The International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) has launched its Advocating for Safe Abortion project in Guinea, marking a new step in efforts to improve access to quality abortion care within the country’s sexual and reproductive health agenda.

Through the project, FIGO will work with the Guinea Obstetrics and Gynaecology Society (SOGGO) to build institutional capacity, strengthen advocacy leadership and promote the use of evidence in policy and practice. The initiative builds on FIGO’s wider Advocating for Safe Abortion project, which has supported national obstetrics and gynaecology societies in 14 countries to overcome barriers to accessing safe and quality abortion care and to advance sexual and reproductive health and rights in the African and Latin American regions.

Continued; https://www.figo.org/news/figo-launches-advocating-safe-abortion-project-guinea

17.06.2026

News

Advocating for Safe Abortion Project

FIGO

Guinea Obstetrics and Gynaecology Society

International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics

Trump’s abortion ‘gag rule’ has Canadian aid sector asking Ottawa to show leadership

By The Canadian Press
May 17, 2026

OTTAWA — Canadian aid groups are deliberating how to respond to American policies that block U.S. aid for virtually any group in developing countries that provides abortion, science-based sexual health information or LGBTQ+ advocacy.

The rollback of feminist aid has those groups calling on Prime Minister Mark Carney to assemble a coalition of like-minded nations to defend sexual health programming.

“People are more likely to die because they’re not receiving this kind of assistance,” said Erin Kiley, director of international programs at Oxfam Canada.

Continued: https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/article/trumps-abortion-gag-rule-has-canadian-aid-sector-asking-ottawa-to-show-leadership/

Investing in family planning: A smart path to healthier families and a stronger Tanzania

May 15, 2026
Ester Shedafa

DAR ES SALAAM: Every year, thousands of women and girls in Tanzania face life-threatening complications from unintended pregnancies, early childbearing, and limited access to reproductive health services. Many of these situations are preventable. One of the most effective solutions is also one of the simplest: ensuring that every woman can access and use family planning services when they need them. Investing in family planning is therefore not just a health intervention it is a strategic investment in Tanzania’s future.

Family planning remains one of the most powerful and cost-effective investments a country can make to improve the health and wellbeing of its people. In Tanzania, strengthening access to family planning services is not only a health priority but also a critical driver of social and economic development.

Continued: https://dailynews.co.tz/investing-in-family-planning-a-smart-path-to-healthier-families-and-a-stronger-tanzania/

15.05.2026

AD1183: Zimbabweans support women’s autonomy in marital and reproduction choices, but hold mixed views on contraceptives and abortion

Majorities endorse sex education and allowing pregnant pupils to stay in school.

Simangele Moyo-Nyede
13 May 2026

Sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) are an essential facet of public health, human rights, and sustainable development. For women, they entail physical, mental, and social well-being with autonomy in matters of sexuality and childbearing, including access to contraceptives (Starrs et al., 2018).

Zimbabwe has made great strides on SRHR in recent years, with legal and policy frameworks, anchored in the 2013 Constitution, that prioritise SRHR in the 2026-2030 National Health Strategy, increase funding for SRHR services, and prohibit child marriage through the Marriages Act (United Nations Population Fund, 2025, 2026; World Health Organization, 2020).

Continued: https://www.afrobarometer.org/publication/ad1183-zimbabweans-support-womens-autonomy-in-marital-and-reproduction-choices-but-hold-mixed-views-on-contraceptives-and-abortion/

13.05.2026

News

Medical Services Amendment Bill

National Health Strategy

public support for abortion

sexual and reproductive health and rights

Study highlights family planning’s role in reducing maternal deaths in Nepal

Khabarhub
May 1, 2026

KATHMANDU: A new study has suggested that increased use of family planning methods could reduce maternal mortality in Nepal by up to 30 percent, as the country continues to remain among nations with relatively high maternal death rates.

The study notes that at least 5 percent of maternal deaths in Nepal (based on 2021 data) are linked to unsafe abortion, indicating that improved access to contraception could significantly reduce preventable deaths.

Continued: https://english.khabarhub.com/2026/01/546682/