US paying almost $25,000 a month to store unusable contraceptives stuck in Belgium

Around $9.7 million worth of contraceptives, including implants and pills, have been stuck in a Belgian warehouse since January last year, when the U.S. first froze foreign aid. The stock could ​have helped prevent millions of unwanted pregnancies and saved lives, aid sources have said.

And a little later:

Reproductive rights organisations have repeatedly urged U.S. authorities ‌to release ⁠the supplies for use by women in lower-income nations.

“It is indefensible that at a time of acute global need, millions of dollars’ worth of lifesaving family planning supplies has been left to rot for nearly a whole year, while U.S. taxpayers face an ever-mounting storage bill,” said Beth Schlachter, senior director of external relations and advocacy at MSI Reproductive Choices.

“Waste ​on this scale is simply ​unconscionable,” she added.

Conservative cruelty is the point.

The crazy thing is that that’s probably the least insane egregious waste of money by the US government I’ve heard about in the last couple years.