Trump administration cancels teen pregnancy prevention grants
9 reported
The Trump administration has canceled all but a handful of grants aimed at teaching teenagers and caregivers about reducing teen pregnancies, according to NPR. The Department of Health and Human Services sent termination notices stating the grants were being canceled for "normalizing sexual activity for minors." The administration canceled 53 grants at the end of June, totaling $67 million. The grants had gone to public health departments, universities, and nonprofits. President Trump's 2027 budget calls for eliminating the teen pregnancy prevention program, stating the grants have gone to groups that "promote radical leftist ideology" and that there is no evidence these programs have "contributed to the historic decline in teen pregnancy, which is now at an all-time low." Trump also canceled all of these grants in his first term. The Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to NPR's multiple requests for comment.
What’s reported
The Trump administration canceled 53 teen pregnancy prevention grants at the end of June, totaling $67 million.
The Department of Health and Human Services wrote in termination notices that the grants were being canceled for "normalizing sexual activity for minors."
President Trump's 2027 budget calls for eliminating the teen pregnancy prevention program.
The budget document says the grants have gone to groups that "promote radical leftist ideology" and that there is no evidence these programs have "contributed to the historic decline in teen pregnancy, which is now at an all-time low."
Trump also canceled all of these grants in his first term.
The Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to NPR's multiple requests for comment.
Paige Preston, an 18-year-old in Tuba City, Arizona, attended a workshop put on by Hozho Horizons from the Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health and learned about safe sex, good communication, and birth control options.
Ginger Mullaney, president and CEO of Healthy Futures of Texas, said her team spent months reworking materials to comply with executive orders on gender ideology and "radical and wasteful government DEI programs," and the materials were approved by federal staff, but then their $2 million-a-year grant was canceled.
Nicholas Mark, a sociologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said the grants were created to apply educational methods proven effective through randomized controlled studies.
Key figures
Paige Preston, 18-year-old resident of Tuba City, Arizona, part of the Navajo Nation
Ginger Mullaney, president and CEO of Healthy Futures of Texas
Nicholas Mark, sociologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
Selena Simmons-Duffin, NPR reporter
Steve Inskeep, NPR host
Sources: NPR
