FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 19th, 2026

Contact: Alison Macklin, [email protected]

Washington, DC – Today, a federal judge granted in part a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump-Vance administration’s attempt to replace the Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) Program with an ideological “body literacy” program that promotes abstinence-only rhetoric, spreads misinformation about contraception, and erases LGBTQIA+ young people.   

The order, issued in Hennepin County, MN et al v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, comes after HHS abruptly canceled the vast majority of TPP grants, just 72 hours after issuing a new funding opportunity designed to strip the program of its evidence-based foundation and force pronatalist propaganda on America’s youth.

The court’s ruling halted implementation of the administration’s new policy, which would have forced grantees to adopt ineffective, abstinence-only, medically inaccurate programming in place of evidence-based programs. The ruling recognizes the serious concerns raised by the administration’s effort to replace a congressionally authorized public health program with an ideologically driven alternative. While today’s ruling is an important step forward, it does not restore the TPP grants that were previously terminated while the case continues.  

SIECUS is proud to be a plaintiff in this case alongside Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, Hennepin County, Minnesota, and King County, Washington.

“Today’s decision sends a clear message that the Trump-Vance Administration cannot recklessly replace the proven, bipartisan Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program with an ideologically driven alternative that harms young people,” said Callie Simon, Executive Director of SIECUS. “While we are encouraged that the court has halted implementation of the new harmful policy, the impacts of terminating existing grants remain. Communities across the country are still without the evidence-based programs they relied on, and we will continue fighting to ensure young people have access to the sex education they deserve.”

SIECUS and its co-plaintiffs are represented by Democracy Forward, Public Citizen Litigation Group, and Dunn Isaacson Rhee LLP. Planned Parenthood Federation of America represents Planned Parenthood of the Heartland.

You can read Democracy Forward’s full press release for additional details.

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SIECUS: Sex Ed for Social Change has served as a leading national voice for sex education since 1964, asserting that sexuality is a fundamental part of being human, one worthy of dignity and respect. Through advocacy, policy, and coalition building, SIECUS advances sex education as a vehicle for social change—where all people receive sex education, are affirmed in their identities, and have the power to make decisions about their own health, pleasure, and wholeness.