Birth control pills, coils and hormone implants worth around 9.7 million dollars, equivalent to just over 93 million kronor, have been destroyed, according to a report in The New York Times.
The contraceptives were purchased by the US aid agency USAID during the presidency of Joe Biden and were intended for women in some of the world's poorest countries, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa.
Since Donald Trump's administration decided that contraceptives are not "life-saving" and that the US should no longer fund medicines that prevent pregnancy, they have been stuck in a warehouse in Belgium.
Belgium denies
According to The New York Times, a spokesperson for USAID - which is now controlled by the White House while the agency is being dismantled - says they have been destroyed.
"President Trump is strongly committed to protecting the lives of unborn children around the world. The government will no longer provide abortion-inducing contraceptives under the guise of foreign aid," the statement reads.
The claim that contraceptives induce abortion is also incorrect.
However, Belgian Minister Jo Brouns denies that they have been destroyed, reports AFP. According to Brouns, special permits are required to destroy the products, and no such permits have been issued.
Offered to buy
According to The New York Times, several international organizations, including the Gates Foundation and the Children's Investment Fund Foundation, have offered to buy or take the medicines.
Instead, the White House is said to have ordered their destruction, which is estimated to have cost around 167,000 dollars, just over 1.5 million kronor.
Donald Trump's dismantling of USAID is expected to hit millions of vulnerable people around the world hard. The agency was previously considered the largest single donor of aid.
