The Trump administration is set to slash teen pregnancy prevention programs unless they adhere to new rules that emphasize greater sexual abstinence and parental control.
Organizations were warned Wednesday that they could lose federal funding if they failed to comply with a new Health and Human Services policy notice that redefines what can be taught about teen sexual activity; dictates what is “medically accurate information” on contraception; and gives parents more rights to “protect their children from content that undermines their religious beliefs.”
But doctors and others have slammed the shift, accusing MAGA Republicans of being on an ideological drive to control reproductive rights, which critics say could end up endangering young people.
“Just because you don’t talk about sex or educate people about sex doesn’t mean it’s not happening,” said Dr Laura Andreson, an OBGYN who works in a suburb outside of Nashville, Tennessee.
“We know abstinence in education doesn’t work, and we’ll end up seeing more sexually transmitted infections that ultimately can result in fertility later in life.”
The Health and Human Services Department policy was sent out in the wake of Trump’s sweeping Supreme Court victories last week.
In one of those rulings, the six conservative justices of the court sided with a group of Maryland parents seeking to opt their children out of school curricula that featured LGBTQ+ characters and themes.
“HHS is committed to ensuring a flourishing and healthy American youth, including through reducing teen pregnancy,” said Dr Dorothy Fink, the Acting Assistant Secretary for Health.
“Prioritizing parental involvement in the education of children on the most sensitive topics creates a healthy environment for children to engage with medically accurate and age-appropriate material.”
But the shift means that some groups currently getting federal grants under the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program could lose their funding if they don’t comply with the department’s new order.
Among them is Planned Parenthood, which sued the Trump administration over its proposed changes, claiming the guidelines sought to “insert ideological preferences into evidence-based programs previously approved by HHS.”
The policy notice says it will be up to the department to determine what is “medically accurate” information such as methods of contraception and including associated health risks.
Also under the guidelines, material or instruction that is not “age appropriate” for minors could include content that “encourages, normalizes, or promotes sexual activity for minors,” or fails to “reduce teenage pregnancy or behavioral risk factors underlying teenage pregnancy.”
And programs will also have to adhere to a range of executive orders Trump issued earlier this year, which targeted DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion), gender-affirming care for young people, and “radical indoctrination” for K-12 students.
Shaughnessy Naughton, the president of 314 Action, a progressive group seeking to get more scientists elected into office, accused Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr of “using his platform to sabotage public health.”
“It’s no surprise this program to prevent teenage pregnancy is RFK Jr.’s next victim,” Naughton said.
“From canceling children’s cancer research to gutting the suicide prevention hotline, and peddling vaccine conspiracy clickbait — America’s top health official is undermining science and abusing his power to destroy our health system. This doesn’t make anyone healthy again, it puts young women’s lives at risk.”
Some parents, however, have previously railed against sex education programs that refer minors to abortion clinics or transgender care.
“The policy reaffirms the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program’s core mission: to reduce teen pregnancy through medically accurate and age-appropriate programming, not to promote harmful ideologies, risky sexual activity for minors, or other content outside the scope of the program,” the department said.
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