Breaking down report Trump admin said birth control pills, IUDs cause abortions

In mid-September 2025, a claim spread online that U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration had said birth control pills and IUDs were abortions.

The rumor spread on X, Instagram and Reddit.

The allegation came from a statement that the U.S. Agency for International Development — the humanitarian aid agency being dismantled by the Trump administration — reportedly provided to The New York Times about the government’s plan to destroy nearly $10 million in contraceptives meant for women in low-income countries. While the origin of the statement indicated the claim was likely legitimate, the White House directed inquires about the purported comment to the State Department, which did not return repeated requests to confirm the Times’ reporting. As such, we have not rated this claim.

Here’s what the Trump administration said, according to the Times’ Sept. 11 story (emphasis ours): 

On Thursday, a spokeswoman for U.S.A.I.D. — which is now being wound down by Russell Vought, the head of the White House Office of Management and Budget — said in a statement to The Times that the contraceptives had been destroyed, and falsely suggested that they induced abortion.

“President Trump is committed to protecting the lives of unborn children all around the world,” the statement said. “The administration will no longer supply abortifacient birth control under the guise of foreign aid.”

Snopes reached out to the lead reporter on the Times story to ask for help verifying the statement and will update the story if they respond. 

According to the Times, USAID first bought the birth control pills, IUDs and hormonal implants as part of its humanitarian aid efforts. 

To be clear, calling birth control an “abortifacient,” or a product which induces an abortion, does not align with medical definitions of an abortion or the process of pregnancy — although some who oppose abortion have argued otherwise. As we previously reported:

Many anti-abortion activists believe that conception occurs at the moment the sperm fertilizes the egg, before implantation. Anything that might expel an embryo in the days after fertilization, is, in their eyes, abortifacient. According to experts, however, abortion occurs after implantation because a person is only considered pregnant after implantation.

As our reporting stated, one reason some abortion opponents believe the birth control pill is an abortifacient is because it causes the uterus’ lining to thin — but so do smoking, cancer treatment, breastfeeding and vigorous exercise, to name a few other factors.

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