Christine Drews Sieger
Federal funding cuts have forced youth organisations across the US to reduce or suspend programmes aimed at preventing teenage pregnancy.
Federal funding cuts introduced by the Trump administration have forced youth education providers across the US to scale back or suspend programmes aimed at preventing teenage pregnancy, NPR reports.
The decision affects health agencies, universities and non-profit organisations that receive funding through the federal Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) Program. Several recipients now face layoffs, cancelled workshops and reduced services for young people.
One of them is Healthy Futures of Texas, which says the loss of its annual $2 million grant will result in significant staff reductions and warns that some services may no longer be available to local communities.
President and CEO Ginger Mullaney said: “I am frustrated that these are lives that are being changed – there is generational impact and social and economic mobility for our communities by using programs that are proven and demonstrated to be effective.”
Years of research
The TPP programme was established by Congress in 2010 to support initiatives that had already shown positive results in reducing teenage pregnancy through scientific evaluation.
Federal support was designed to prioritise projects whose effectiveness had been demonstrated through long-term scientific studies before nationwide implementation.
Nicholas Mark, a sociologist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, told NPR that the programme’s foundation has always been evidence-based prevention. He described the government’s justification for the cuts as a “bizarre” way of framing the issue.
According to documents, the Department of Health and Human Services justified the cancellations by citing a “Failure to align with agency priorities, specifically normalization of sexual activity among minors.”
Communities affected
The consequences are already being felt in communities that relied on the funding. In Arizona’s Navajo Nation, a LiFT workshop organised through Hózhǫ́ Horizons and the Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health has been cancelled following the loss of federal support.
Preston had hoped to help run future sessions after participating in the programme earlier this year, but those plans ended when the funding disappeared.
She said the workshops strengthened communication with trusted adults and provided reliable information about relationships and contraception. “Honestly, I am really sad and disappointed,” she told NPR.
The latest funding cuts also revive a long-running political dispute. During Donald Trump’s first term, similar grants were cancelled before being restored following legal action. Democratic lawmakers are now urging Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to reinstate the funding approved by Congress earlier this year.
Teen pregnancy reaches historic lows
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the birth rate among girls aged 15 to 19 declined by 78% between 1991 and 2021, reaching the lowest level ever recorded.
Researchers believe the trend reflects a combination of factors, including fewer teenagers being sexually active and greater use of contraception among those who are.
Despite the significant progress, the CDC notes that the US still has a higher teen birth rate than many other high-income countries, while substantial differences remain between racial, ethnic and socioeconomic groups.
These figures have been cited by public health experts as evidence that continued access to evidence-based education and reproductive health programmes remains an important part of efforts to reduce unintended teenage pregnancies.
Sources: NPR. US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
