Planned Parenthood sued the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Thursday because it is unhappy over a change to federal funds going to its teen pregnancy prevention program.
“HHS is trying to to unlawfully repurpose the current evidence-based TPPP program from an effective program into an ineffective abstinence-only-until-marriage program,” the abortion organization and its affiliates’ lawsuit, filed in the Eastern District Court of Washington, alleges.
The Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program (TPPP) provides federal grants to organizations working to prevent teen pregnancy across the U.S. The program was established in 2010 with a congressional mandate to fund “medically accurate and age appropriate programs.”
The lawsuit follows the HHS’s cut in TPPP funds in August 2017 after finding the program was not working effectively.
“Given the strong evidence of negative impact or no impact for these programs, continuing the TPPP Program in its current state is not a reasonable option,” according to an Aug. 28, 2017, statement from HHS. “The evidence stands in stark contrast to the promised results, jeopardizing the youth who were served, while also proving to be a poor use of more than $800 million in taxpayer dollars.”
The HHS did open up some applications for the program in the future, however, and stated it will allocate $10 million toward more effective methods of preventing teen pregnancy, Buzzfeed News reported.
Planned Parenthood’s sex education programs haven’t always been looked kindly upon by concerned parents and community members. A parent was kicked out of a high school sex-ed class in February after a Planned Parenthood representative decided that allowing a parent to be privy to the class’s activities would not be acceptable. The class covered topics like birth control, sexual orientation and gender identity. (RELATED: North Carolina Schools Get Rid Of Planned Parenthood Sex Ed Program)
North Carolina’s Cumberland County Board of Education also voted in February to reject Planned Parenthood’s “Get Real” sex education program after 1,800 people signed a petition opposing the program. The program curriculum encouraged sixth graders to prepare for sex by including material on proper condom usage for vaginal, oral or anal sex and recommending other non-traditional contraception methods, like non-microwavable saran wrap.
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