Go to Content Go to Navigation Go to Navigation Go to Site Search Homepage

Washington, D.C. — Today, the Trump-Pence administration announced that it would radically remake the successful Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program (TPPP) to push ineffective abstinence-only-until-marriage programming. The announcement, made through two newly released funding opportunity announcements (FOAs), clearly lays out an agenda that stigmatizes teens who have sex and stacks the deck against young people by promoting abstinence-only programs rather than a wide range of programs that are sex education that is proven to help young people stay healthy.

With this announcement, the administration has dramatically shifted how it would administer the program. Prior to these new FOAs, grantees were required to replicate evidence-based programs that have already been proven effective through rigorous scientific evaluation, or develop and implement new, innovative approaches to reducing teen pregnancy. With the new FOAs, HHS has removed the focus on evidenced-based programs completely, requiring instead that all participants emphasize an abstinence-only approach. By requiring grantees to meaningfully incorporate ineffective abstinence-only (which the Trump-Pence administration labels “sexual risk avoidance”) approaches into every program component, HHS is dictating a single and ineffective approach to teen pregnancy prevention. The announcement also completely erases any mention of LGBTQ youth.

Abstinence-only programs are the same harmful programs that often blame survivors for their own sexual assaults, peddle fear, and ignore the needs of LGBTQ teens. Here is just a sample of the language employed by “sexual risk avoidance” programs:

Statement from Dawn Laguens, Executive Vice President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America:

The Trump-Pence administration is remaking an effective program in order to peddle  its radical ideology to young people — and it’s endangering our teenagers’ health as a result. This single-minded agenda promotes an abstinence-only approach and erases LGBTQ youth entirely. This could undermine young people’s understanding of sex and relationships. All of the evidence shows that abstinence-only-until-marriage programs do not work and put our young people at risk. This administration is already using the nation’s program for affordable birth control to push women toward abstinence — now they’re trying to remake the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program to do the same thing. It’s time for the Trump-Pence administration to stop putting our health and lives at risk.

Now, the Trump-Pence administration is trying to turn back that progress, ignoring science and the needs of young people, all to push its coercive and ideological agenda. Abstinence-only-until-marriage programs have been deemed ineffective by medical journals and denounced by leading medical professional organizations because they go against the basic principles of science and medical ethics. Continuing to push the same practices with a new name cannot change that.

The Trump-Pence administration has pushed its abstinence-only-until-marriage agenda by:

  • Putting Valerie Huber, who most recently served as president and CEO of Ascend, formerly called “National Abstinence Education Association,” in charge of the TPPP program and Title X, the nation’s program for affordable birth control and reproductive health care.
  • Presenting an extreme agenda to the the annual UN Commission on the Status of Women on abortion, contraception, and sexual education. The U.S.’s anti-women’s health agenda was so extreme that was more conservative that it was “further to the right than those expressed by most other countries present, including Russia and the representative for the Arab states.”
  • Favoring health care providers that push patients to return to a “sexually risk free status”and  promoting abstinence only until marriage in the Title X FOA that was released in February.
  • Abruptly ending prior grants for TPPP.
  • Outlining priorities in the TPPP funding announcement that require program participants to emphasize priorities that that emphasize “sexual risk avoidance” (also known as abstinence only until marriage) and “cessation support” for adolescents who are sexually active. 

Congress funded the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program for the FY18 fiscal year with bipartisan support, despite the administration's efforts to abruptly and arbitrarily end the TPPP grant agreements last year. The program was projected to serve 1.2 million young people and families and funds a wide range of programs that have been proven to reduce unintended pregnancy by helping young people to postpone sex and use condoms and other birth control methods when they do become sexually active.

Earlier this week, a U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled, in one of four cases brought against HHS, that the Trump-Pence administration’s efforts to terminate the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program grants of the four plaintiffs in that case were unlawful. Planned Parenthood affiliates filed a separate case, which has a hearing on April 245 in Spokane, WA.

Shifting funds from a wide range of evidence-based programs to focus exclusively on programs that emphasize abstinence -only will disproportionately harm young people, including survivors of sexual violence, LGBTQ teens, youth of color, families in rural communities, and youth who already face significant barriers when trying to access information or health care.

Sex education is widely supported in the United States. In fact, over 90 percent% of parents support sex education in both middle and high school. And the vast majority of parents, including Democrats and Republicans, want this education to include topics like birth control, healthy relationships, abstinence, and sexual orientation.

As the nation’s largest provider of sex education, Planned Parenthood works in schools and communities across the country to provide quality sex education programs. Planned Parenthood is proud to provide sex education and health services that help teens plan their future and prevent both unintended pregnancies and STDs. We work every day to reach teens with education about sexual health, communication skills, and relationships so they can make healthy decisions.

###

Planned Parenthood is the nation’s leading provider and advocate of high-quality, affordable health care for women, men, and young people, as well as the nation’s largest provider of sex education. With more than 600 health centers across the country, Planned Parenthood organizations serve all patients with care and compassion, with respect and without judgment. Through health centers, programs in schools and communities, and online resources, Planned Parenthood is a trusted source of reliable health information that allows people to make informed health decisions. We do all this because we care passionately about helping people lead healthier lives.

Español

This website uses cookies

Planned Parenthood cares about your data privacy. We and our third-party vendors use cookies and other tools to collect, store, monitor, and analyze information about your interaction with our site to improve performance, analyze your use of our sites and assist in our marketing efforts. You may opt out of the use of these cookies and other tools at any time by visiting Cookie Settings. By clicking “Allow All Cookies” you consent to our collection and use of such data, and our Terms of Use. For more information, see our Privacy Notice.

Cookie Settings

Planned Parenthood cares about your data privacy. We and our third-party vendors, use cookies, pixels, and other tracking technologies to collect, store, monitor, and process certain information about you when you access and use our services, read our emails, or otherwise engage with us. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences, or your device. We use that information to make the site work, analyze performance and traffic on our website, to provide a more personalized web experience, and assist in our marketing efforts. We also share information with our social media, advertising, and analytics partners. You can change your default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of required cookies when utilizing our site; this includes necessary cookies that help our site to function (such as remembering your cookie preference settings). For more information, please see our Privacy Notice.

Marketing

On

We use online advertising to promote our mission and help constituents find our services. Marketing pixels help us measure the success of our campaigns.

Performance

On

We use qualitative data, including session replay, to learn about your user experience and improve our products and services.

Analytics

On

We use web analytics to help us understand user engagement with our website, trends, and overall reach of our products.