US Funding Freeze Disrupts Family Planning Services Across 41 Countries

The second Trump administration has stopped spending congressionally appropriated funds for international family planning and reproductive health programs, leading to widespread disruptions in services across 41 countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.

Key Details

The United States previously provided over 40% of donor funding for global family planning—approximately $575 million annually.

Nearly 95% of US foreign aid for sexual reproductive health and family planning was cut in 2025. Community health workers, nurses, and technical experts have been laid off; clinics have closed; and contraceptive supplies are running out.

The administration's budget request for fiscal year 2027 states that "the United States should not pay for the world's birth control" and eliminates family planning and reproductive health activities entirely.

Background

US funding for international family planning has been a bipartisan priority since USAID's establishment in 1961. According to the Guttmacher Institute, US funds previously provided modern contraceptive care to over 47 million women annually, preventing 17.1 million unintended pregnancies and saving 34,000 lives each year.

Official Statements

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in May 2025: "There's no plan to spend that money. We're not going to be in that business globally."

The State Department stated that the administration "is still evaluating family planning programs and funding" for the current fiscal year, and that "President Trump has restored common sense to U.S. foreign assistance."

Shyami de Silva, former director of the Office of Population and Reproductive Health at USAID, described the loss as "very disruptive, very significant."

Elizabeth Sully of the Guttmacher Institute noted that appropriated money "is not being spent, and it is not going out the door."

Impacts on the Ground

In Uganda, former community health worker Prossy Muyingo lost her job funded by US aid. She now informally counsels neighbors through unintended pregnancies. She reported that one woman who previously hid her contraceptive use from her husband became pregnant after services were disrupted and is now raising a 3-month-old son.

The Women's Refugee Commission found that almost 95% of US foreign aid for sexual reproductive health and family planning was cut in 2025.

The Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition estimates a massive shortfall in funding for contraceptives globally in 2026.