Responding to Trump’s executive orders and recent events related to the US Agency for International Development (USAID), Beth Schlachter, MSI’s Senior Director for US External Affairs, said:
“The Trump administration’s systematic destruction of USAID’s life-saving work is devastating to behold.
“At less than one per cent of the federal budget, the benefits that U.S foreign assistance has brought are immense: from providing antiretroviral medicine to 20 million HIV positive people in Africa, improving child nutrition in resource poor settings, to tracking outbreaks of infectious diseases like Ebola, Mpox and Marburg. Its withdrawal from this vital work means that all those programmes have ground to a halt, with organisations forced to stop operations, turn away patients and lay off staff.
“As one of the largest providers of life-saving contraception and abortion, MSI is also deeply concerned about the impact that Trump’s wholesale assault will have on global reproductive health.
“While the U.S. government has never funded abortion, it has supported international family planning and reproductive health efforts for 50 years and is by far the largest family planning donor worldwide, supplying 43% of funding in 2023. They also provide over $14 billion in humanitarian assistance, including to women and girls in Afghanistan, Yemen, and Somalia. This funding and technical expertise cannot and will not be easily replaced.
“But the Trump administration’s obvious ideological aversion to sexual and reproductive healthcare has left us in no doubt that they want to decimate not only abortion care, but also the provision of contraception more broadly.
“We don’t yet know what the future of US development assistance will look like, but USAID’s contribution to this important work has been so significant that the profound devastation it will cause is painfully clear.
“Despite the confusion that the administration is deliberately sowing, what is also clear is that many stand against this aggressive destruction. At MSI, we have never and will never sign the global gag rule, we have refused Trump’s demand to cease all Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility work and we have walked away from USAID funding under these conditions.
“We are calling on everyone who believes in human rights and the far-reaching influence of this work to remain steadfast in your solidarity, remember why we do what we do and be ready to fight for all we believe in.
“In the white heat of the chaos, it’s never been more important to stay focused on our mission and the job ahead. Together, we will continue to serve the people counting on us to find a way forward.”
Notes to Editor
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