Judge Blocks HHS From Rebuilding the Teen Pregnancy Program Around Abstinence, but Leaves 53 Canceled Grants Dead

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper in Washington ruled on Aug. 19 that the Department of Health and Human Services may not implement sweeping new conditions on grants under the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program while a lawsuit proceeds. HHS canceled 53 of the program's 67 grants at the end of June, two years before their expiration dates, telling most recipients their programs normalized or promoted sexual activity for minors. Replacement funding notices shifted the emphasis toward fertility tracking, "body literacy" and "reproductive goals counseling." Cooper wrote that HHS "is perfectly entitled to formulate its own views about how to stem teen pregnancy" but is not free to impose conditions "that Congress did not intend or that are unreasonable or unexplained."

Congress created the program in 2010 as an evidence-based grant stream, and a separate court vacated an earlier HHS attempt to rewrite its terms in 2025. The ruling tests how far an agency may redirect a congressionally designed program through grant conditions.

Cooper said it was unclear whether he could order the roughly $70 million in canceled funds restored, leaving grantees unfunded for now. HHS may reissue the funding notices under the prior guidelines or appeal.