HHS Redirects Teen Health Grants Toward Abstinence, Fertility and Marriage Messaging — Lawsuits Follow

The Trump administration, through the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) led by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has redirected millions of dollars in teen health funding toward programs that emphasize abstinence-only education, fertility awareness and the importance of marriage. The shift, enacted through new grant application rules, has prompted abrupt cancellations of existing awards and multiple lawsuits from reproductive health advocates.

What Changed

New HHS guidance requires applicants for the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program to teach abstinence as the sole certain means to prevent pregnancy, to counsel on reproductive goals, and to "affirm marriage and parenthood as meaningful and value components of adult life." The guidance gives limited attention to sexually transmitted infection prevention and largely omits content specifically relevant to LGBTQ+ youth.

Immediate Impact

Three days after the guidelines were published, several long-standing grantees received termination notices stating funding was "terminated effective immediately," according to court filings. Plaintiffs assert these cancellations jeopardize millions in evidence-based programs that research associates with declines in teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.

Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr has repeatedly warned of a 'fertility crisis' in the US as his agency forces teen pregnancy prevention programs to focus on fertility and healthy pregnancies (Getty)

Examples

• A South Carolina program reportedly lost a $1.6 million grant over alleged content that the agency said normalized adolescent sexual activity.
• Fact Forward said HHS mischaracterized lessons about condom effectiveness and sexual health, including accusing it of normalizing pornography; the organization disputed the agency's portrayal.
• Healthy Futures of Texas, which serves teens in Dallas, San Antonio and the Rio Grande Valley, had a recent renewal revoked under the new standards.

"We are fighting back because young people deserve medically accurate, inclusive sex education, not ideological programs that ignore the evidence," said Callie Simon, executive director of the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS).

Policy Context and Critics

Critics note that the new language echoes proposals from conservative policy papers, including elements of the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 and proposals linked to the Make America Healthy Again movement. The guidance also parallels recent Title X directions emphasizing "natural family planning" and "preconception health services" while omitting explicit mention of birth control.

HHS's language references "root-cause understanding of chronic health conditions that may impact overall health and fertility," a nod to restorative reproductive medicine — an alternative approach to assisted reproductive technologies that medical societies warn can be ineffective or delay appropriate care. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) have cautioned against relying on such approaches as substitutes for evidence-based treatment.

Legal And Political Response

Several advocacy groups, including SIECUS and Democracy Forward, have filed lawsuits seeking to block the changes. Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, described the revisions as "a backdoor, ideologically driven effort disguised as education" that conflicts with the program's statutory purpose to fund age-appropriate, evidence-based approaches that reduce teen pregnancy.

The Trump administration called the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program 'radical indoctrination' before mass canceling millions of dollars in grants to groups that provide comprehensive reproductive health education to young people (AFP/Getty)

A group of Democratic senators has urged Secretary Kennedy to restore funding immediately, arguing the terminations reflect a pattern of actions that undermine comprehensive reproductive healthcare and disregard congressional intent and scientific evidence.

Why It Matters

Between 2010 and the mid-2020s, teen birth rates in the United States fell by roughly 72%, a decline public health experts largely attribute to improved access to contraception and comprehensive sex education. Advocates warn that the shift toward abstinence-only messaging, fertility-focused counseling and an emphasis on marriage could reverse those gains and leave vulnerable young people without medically accurate information and services.

Potential consequences include suspended or dismantled community programs, interrupted research, layoffs of trained staff, reduced services to adolescents and fractured partnerships with schools and health providers. The dispute now continues in court while the agency has not publicly changed its new guidance.