The Trump regime canceled tens of millions of dollars in federal grants for a program credited with driving a historic, decades-long decline in teen birth rates
Connecticut’s teen birth rate has fallen by roughly two-thirds since the program began, tracking a nationwide trend researchers link to evidence-based sex education
The administration is replacing the program with a new approach centered on abstinence, fertility tracking and marriage promotion, which critics say echoes provisions in Project 2025
For the last 16 years, the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program has stood as a significant success in the United States. Its approach toward providing teens with information and programs better informing them of ways to avoid teen pregnancy has correlated with a decline in teen birth rates of more than 70%, according to News From The States.
In Connecticut, before the program took effect in 2010, the 2005 teen birth rate was 23.3 live births per 1,000 women. In 2015, it fell to 10.1/1,000, while in 2024, it declined further to 6.5/1,000, a 66% decline, according to CDC statistics.
The Trump administration recently announced its plans to reorient the program away from teen pregnancy prevention and toward education about fertility tracking and “reproductive goals counseling”.
In June, the Department of Health and Human Services announced the cancellation of $68 million in grants supporting programs under the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program, impacting providers in more than two dozen states, according to Stateline. That came weeks before the administration’s announced plans to shift away from programs encouraging use of contraception.
It is expected to emphasize an abstinence-only approach, which past data suggest could lead to a meaningful rise in teen pregnancy and birth rates.
The Department of Health and Human Services stated the cancellations were due to “normalizing sexual activity for minors,” though the administration’s 2027 budget called for the grants to be eliminated because groups receiving them “support leftist ideology,” NPR reported.
These changes are notable given that a federal grant program for abstinence-only education already exists. They also come as the Trump administration seeks to implement a new grant review process that would allow political appointees to reject any given request.
These changes also come amid a federal effort to overhaul the Title X program, which has historically funded birth control, cancer screenings, wellness exams, and HIV testing for low-income and underserved populations. This year, the program’s application window was shortened from several months to just one week. And for the 2027 funding cycle, HHS has directed that Title X shift its focus away from expanding contraceptive access and toward ‘natural family planning’.
According to the Guttmacher Institute, the changes could be related to provisions from Project 2025, the strategic plan from far-right Republicans to exert greater control over the federal government first publicized in 2024 in the lead-up to that year’s presidential election. Project 2025 had sections seeking to reduce contraceptive coverage and use and further criminalize and cut off access to abortion care.
By Joe O’Leary
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