Planned Parenthood has filed a court motion to allow federal teen pregnancy prevention grants to continue going to its affiliates.
The grants, part of the government’s Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program, affects 1.2 million young people. In November, the Trump administration announced it would end five-year grants that were given under the Obama administration to 81 institutions two years early. The result means that the organizations will not receive roughly $200 million in expected federal funding during the next two years.
Planned Parenthood is arguing that this move is illegal.
The Trump administration has targeted Planned Parenthood in other areas because it is the largest abortion provider in the U.S. It ended the teen pregnancy prevention funds because it said there was a lack of evidence that the programs were effective.
Planned Parenthood’s latest motion filed Friday is part of a set of ongoing lawsuits that the organization has filed against the administration. It requests that Planned Parenthood continue to receive funds as the lawsuit is underway.
Planned Parenthood said that cutting the funds from its organization will disproportionately affect people of color and people who live in rural areas. It accused the Trump administration of making its “abstinence-only-until-marriage agenda crystal clear.”
“We are in court fighting for young people’s right to the education and information they need to make smart decisions about their future,” Leslie Kantor, vice president of education for Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a statement. “If the administration succeeds, it would abruptly cut off at least one million young people from high-quality, evidence-based programs that help them stay safe and make healthy decisions about their futures. We hold the Trump-Pence administration accountable for attempting to dismantle a program that has proven to have a positive impact on young people across the country ”
Teen pregnancy has been on the decline, both because teens are delaying sex and because they have better access to birth control.
