Coalition Sues Trump-Vance Administration Over Illegal Changes to Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program
Longstanding Bipartisan-Supported Program Has Been Successful in Reducing Unintended Pregnancies, Administration’s Changes Endanger Young People
Washington, D.C. – A coalition of organizations and local governments filed a lawsuit today in the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia challenging the Trump-Vance administration’s unlawful decision to replace the longstanding evidence-based framework of the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program (TPPP) – a program that was put in place with bipartisan Congressional support more than 15 years ago – with an ideological effort focused solely on the administration’s political goals.
The suit comes after the administration issued two new Notice of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs), imposing new criteria for funding awards pursuant to the program, and then rashly cancelled, just 72 hours later, the vast majority of active awards implementing the program midstream.
The TPPP was initially authorized by Congress with bipartisan support in 2009. Since that time, teen pregnancy rates have fallen significantly, according to federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.
Through the changes the administration has made to the longstanding program– that the litigation filed today challenges – the administration is requiring the projects it funds use non-evidence-based curricula that exclusively promote abstinence-only before marriage, eliminate consideration of populations disproportionally affected by unintended pregnancy, including LGBTQ+ young people, forbid discussion of sex in sexual education, promote fertility planning for young women, and provide ideologically-driven, medically inaccurate information, including misinformation regarding contraception.
Plaintiffs bringing the challenge include Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS), Hennepin County, Minnesota, and King County, Washington. Democracy Forward, Public Citizen Litigation Group, and Dunn Isaacson Rhee LLP represent SIECUS, Hennepin County, and King County. Planned Parenthood Federation of America represents Planned Parenthood of the Heartland.
“For the first time in history, pregnancy rates are higher for Americans in their forties than they are for those in their teens. This is thanks to decades of comprehensive pregnancy prevention programs that are empowering Americans to control their futures and plan for parenthood,” said Ruth Richardson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland. “By terminating the Teen Pregnancy Prevention grants, the Trump administration is stripping young Americans of the proven education they need to control their bodies, lives, and futures. Our youth deserve better.”
“Terminating the Teen Pregnancy Prevention grants was reckless. It’s already hurting young people and disrupting proven programs in communities nationwide,” said Callie Simon, Executive Director of SIECUS. “We are fighting back because young people deserve medically-accurate, inclusive sex education, not ideological programs that ignore the evidence, violate the law, and put their health and well-being at risk.”
“King County is a national leader in evidence-based sexual health education, helping achieve some of the lowest unintended pregnancy rates among young people in the country,” said King County Executive Girmay Zahilay. “The Trump administration’s decision to terminate our grant early forces us to halt development of a new education program, undermining proven public health efforts and disregarding the health and well-being of young people. We are standing up for our young people and communities against this ideological attack and will continue fighting to protect access to accurate, effective sexual health education.”
“Science-based sex education is a cornerstone of public health and human rights,” said Dr. Sandra J. Valenciano, Director and Health Officer, Public Health – Seattle & King County. “It empowers young people to plan their lives and build healthy families if, when, and how they choose. Sex education prevents the spread of sexually transmitted infections and enables healthy, successful relationships. Terminating this Teen Pregnancy Prevention funding puts politics ahead of public health science.”
In their filing, the coalition argues that the Trump-Vance administration’s actions violate the will of Congress, which authorized TPPP funding to support “medically accurate and age appropriate” programs and specified that at least 75% of that funding should replicate programs that have been proven effective. The filing also points out that several of the studies cited in the funding opportunity announcement to try to support the Administration’s effort to twist the program to support its ideological goals appear not to exist at all.
“The Trump-Vance administration’s repeated attempts to terminate proven evidence-based programs and spread misinformation to teens have real consequences for young people’s futures,” said Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward. “This is a backdoor, ideologically-driven effort disguised as education, defying Congress’s clear directive that these grants support medically accurate, age-appropriate, evidence-based programs. An overwhelming majority of Americans believe young people should receive honest, inclusive sexual education. Our team at Democracy Forward is proud to have stopped the first Trump administration’s effort to harmfully alter this essential program in court before, and we will do it again.”
“The Trump Administration is interfering with a long-running, successful program to reduce teen pregnancy, “said Cormac Early, attorney at Public Citizen Litigation Group. “HHS’s new policy flouts Congress’s directive that the TPP Program be guided by evidence – not ideology – and undermines the goal of the statutory program: preventing teen pregnancy.”
“The lawful management of congressionally appropriated funding is essential so that grantees of critical programs like the TPP Program can plan, engage communities, and see their work through,” said Jeannie Rhee, Managing Partner of Dunn Isaacson Rhee . “We are proud to partner with co-counsel to ensure that federal agencies follow the law and respect Congress’s directives.”
During the Trump-Pence administration in 2017 and 2018, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services also took aim at the program, abruptly ending Teen Pregnancy Prevention awards for cities, counties, and nonprofits across the nation and seeking to unlawfully steer the program to ideological approaches. Following lawsuits filed by Democracy Forward, Public Citizen Litigation Group, and Planned Parenthood on behalf of grantees, the courts ruled the actions unlawful and funds were restored.
Read today’s filing here.