The Trump team is quietly eliminating U.S. support for birth control abroad
She's been at the forefront of providing information and services for reproductive, maternal and child health. U.S. aid cuts eliminated her salary.
Edward Echwalu for NPR
hide caption
toggle caption
Edward Echwalu for NPR
"I'm on your veranda."
That's the text Prossy Muyingo would get each night for years, sent by a 28-year-old standing outside her home in central Uganda.
Immediately, Muyingo would pour a glass of water and, from the sideboard in her living room, fetch a birth control pill and bring it outside.
As a community health worker, Prossy Muyingo kept birth control pills as well as HIV medication inside a box in her living room in the central Ugandan town of Mityana.
Edward Echwalu for NPR
hide caption
toggle caption
Edward Echwalu for NPR
"She was swallowing [the pill] from my house," explains Muyingo, who served as a community health worker in Mityana District for 12 years. The woman had told Muyingo that she feared her husband would beat her if he knew about the birth control. "The man is ever asking for a child," the woman said to Muyingo. She already had three children and didn't want another one, at least not right now. So she used Muyingo's home as a place to store and take her pills. Muyingo has similar arrangements with many neighbors.
Now all of that has changed.
In September 2025, Muyingo lost her job. Her stipend had been paid for by U.S. foreign aid. Now, she says, instead of providing contraception, she's informally counseling neighbors through unintended pregnancies.
A historic disruption
Muyingo's story is part of what reproductive health experts are describing as the largest disruption ever to international family planning efforts.
Discussion (0)