Women’s rights protestors have demanded the EU explore “all legal and diplomatic avenues” to prevent America from burning $10 million worth of contraceptives stored in Belgium due to changes in U.S. aid programs.

The protesters rallied in front of the U.S. embassy in Brussels on Thursday to urge EU institutions to step in and stop what they called a “reckless, harmful and cruel action.”

The contraceptives, owned by the defunded U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) program and currently stored in two warehouses in Belgium, are set to be incinerated due to the reinstatement of a U.S. policy that prohibits sending aid to organizations that provide abortion services.

Local and international organizations are calling on governments and EU officials to intervene, saying the destruction will result in thousands of women and girls losing access to life-saving care.

“We call on the European Union to stand up for its values and commitments to women’s freedom everywhere,” Micah Grzywnowicz told the crowd of protesters holding placards and banners across from the embassy.

“This is the moment for the European Commission to show leadership: Rally member states, mediate with the U.S., and explore all legal and diplomatic avenues to stop essential supplies from being wasted,” said Grzywnowicz, who is regional director of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) European network.

While protestors want the EU to act, the European Commission said only Belgium can intervene in the destruction of medicines on its territory. The local government says it’s doing everything it can to find a diplomatic solution, but protestors argue it’s a political performance by the U.S.

Between 80 and 100 people showed up to protest on the cloudy morning. They held pictures of birth-control pills on fire, a banner spelling “Reproductive freedom for all,” and numerous signs reading “you have blood on your hands,” “700 mothers dead,” and “161,000 unplanned births.”

They stood just across the street from the U.S. embassy, on Boulevard du Régent, chanting “Shame, shame, shame. Trump is to blame.”

“We are here to say no, we disagree with these political decisions that impact our bodies and our lives and our people in our partner organizations and countries,” Grzywnowicz told POLITICO. “And we are not going anywhere, so we will keep on looking and watching and protesting against those moves.”

The protest was organized by sexual health and reproductive rights NGO IPPF, Flemish center of expertise for sexual health Sensoa, 11.11.11, and the Fédération Laïque de Centres de Planning Familial. While the message for the U.S. is to stop its plan to destroy the stocks, the one for the EU is to step up.

“The EU always portrays itself as a champion for sexual, reproductive health and rights. So we would like them to show that now on this topic as well,” Heleen Heysse, from Sensoa, told POLITICO. “On the other hand, we also want them to look at all avenues that they can find on EU policy to save the stocks.”

Blame game

Calls for the EU to get involved have been mounting for weeks. Earlier this summer a group of MEPs wrote to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen asking her to intervene.

A Commission spokesperson told POLITICO on Thursday that preventing the destruction of the contraceptives on the territory of a member country is a national competency. But “should a solution be found to make these commodities available, the Commission stands ready to explore ways together with partners to ensure that the supplies reach the intended beneficiaries,” they added.

Several international organizations, including the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the IPPF, have offered to purchase the contraceptives at no additional costs for the U.S. On the other hand, the destruction of the products would cost U.S. taxpayers approximately $167,000, according to news reports.

But the U.S. rejected the offer, said Grzywnowicz.

A spokesperson from USAID told POLITICO that the supplies were still with customs and under review. That was confirmed by a spokesperson for Flemish Minister Jo Brouns, who told POLITICO that the products were still located in the two warehouses in Geel and Kallo.

“Looking at the actions of the Trump administration, it’s not about [a] technicality or not knowing what to do with the supplies,” Grzywnowicz said. “It is about [a] political agenda and wanting to control our bodies.”

Under Flemish legislation, medicines or medical supplies that are still in good condition may not be incinerated, the spokesperson added. “Such incineration can only take place if an “exemption from the incineration ban” is granted by the minister for the environment and a double levy on waste incineration is paid,” the spokesperson said, adding that “no such exemption has been requested or granted to date.”

 “Together with his federal colleague, Minister Jo Brouns is doing everything possible to find a diplomatic solution for these goods,” the spokesperson said.

Heysse called on the EU to stand with Belgium and show its support. Belgium on its own is “less powerful than if the whole EU throws their weight behind us,” she said.

The U.S. government is also coming under growing pressure to abandon its plans. Last week, over 70 international organizations sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging the administration to “immediately halt plans to destroy these contraceptive supplies.”

A U.S. State Department spokesperson previously said that the stored products had been purchased under former President Joe Biden’s administration and could be “potentially … abortifacients” — substances that can induce an abortion. This could violate the so-called Mexico City Policy, he added.

The Mexico City Policy forbids U.S. aid from being sent to abortion providers and was reinstated by President Donald Trump in January.

Lists obtained by news outlets show that the stock does not include pills for medical abortions. Nonetheless, the policy prevents any support of any organizations that promote abortion, meaning other services such as providing contraceptives have also been impacted.

About 77 percent of the products, which are mostly long-acting contraceptives such as birth control pills, IUDs and hormonal implants, were earmarked for five African countries: the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and Mali, the IPPF said. Destroying these contraceptives would deny more than 1.4 million women and girls access to life-saving care.

Tanzania would be the country most impacted, the NGO added, as the products account for nearly one-third of the country’s total annual contraceptive needs. In total, activists say, the destruction of the stockpile could result in over 360,000 unintended pregnancies, 161,000 unplanned births, 110,000 unsafe abortions and 718 preventable maternal deaths.

Trump moved to dismantle USAID shortly after his January inauguration, scrapping over 80 percent of its programs. Leaders of international health NGOs previously urged the EU to step up to protect lifesaving health initiatives over what they see as a “moment of reckoning” amid Washington’s cuts to foreign aid.