U.S. Rep. Kelly Morrison Leads Colleagues in Demanding Trump Admin Reinstate Canceled Teen Pregnancy Prevention Grants

WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. Representative Kelly Morrison (MN-03) led nearly 80 members of the Democratic Women’s Caucus (DWC) and the Democratic Caucus in demanding the immediate reversal of the Trump Administration’s cancellation of 53 active Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program (TPP) grants, totaling $68 million in funding — including one awarded in Hennepin County, Minnesota. 

“As an OB-GYN, I’m deeply troubled that the Trump Administration is defunding programs that keep our kids safe,” said Congresswoman Kelly Morrison. “This program funds rigorously studied, evidence-based practices that have been proven to help prevent infections and disease, reduce risky behavior, decrease teen pregnancies, and save lives. Canceling this work is indefensible and dangerous. HHS must reverse these cancellations immediately.” 

Congress has long appropriated funds for this program in a bipartisan manner, recognizing the importance of helping young people make healthy decisions and sustaining a program that leads to reduced sexual risk behavior, decreased sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and fewer unintended teen pregnancies.

“The teen birth rate has fallen 81% since 1991 and 72% since 2007. The outcomes of this program save lives as teenage pregnancies are at high risk for health complications. Specifically, teenagers 16-19 years old face increased risk of preterm birth, and teens 15 years old and younger are even more vulnerable to health complications. Overall, the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program has an established history of investing in community-driven strategies, identifying new curricula that work through rigorous evaluation, and supporting their implementation with fidelity.”

“Redirecting funding from the TPP program jeopardizes access to the high-quality health education, support, and resources that Congress intended. Abrupt and arbitrary disruptions on grounds unrelated to the core aims of the TPP program undermine the ability of the program to serve its congressionally intended purpose of giving young people the knowledge and tools needed to improve sexual and reproductive health outcomes and promote positive experiences, relationships, and environments that help our nation’s youth thrive.”

In addition to reversing the cancellation of funds, the letter calls on HHS to provide the rationale behind each cancellation, justifications for canceling the grants, and explanations for redirecting the funding to programs not previously authorized by Congress.

Dear Secretary Kennedy: 

We, as members of the Democratic Women’s Caucus and Democratic Caucus, are disturbed by the

cancellation of 53 of the 66 active grants, approximately $68 million dollars of grant funding, in the Teen

Pregnancy Prevention Program administered by the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of Population Affairs. We request an immediate reversal of the termination of these funds and responses to the inquiries included below. 

The HHS Office of Population Affairs (OPA) Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) Program is a tiered, evidence-based program that provides competitive grants to diverse organizations working to prevent teen pregnancy across the United States and its territories. Millions of young people across the country have positively benefited from the programs funded by TPP funds. The teen birth rate has fallen 81% since 1991 and 72% since 2007. The outcomes of this program save lives as teenage pregnancies are at high risk for health complications. Specifically, teenagers 16-19 years old face increased risk of preterm birth, and teens 15 years old and younger are even more vulnerable to health complications. Overall, the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program has an established history of investing in community-driven strategies, identifying new curricula that work through rigorous evaluation, and supporting their implementation with fidelity.

Congress has long appropriated the funds for this program in a bipartisan manner recognizing the importance of helping young people make healthy decisions and sustaining a program that leads to reduced sexual risk behavior, decreased sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and fewer unintended teen pregnancies. Congress has specifically designated the majority of funds (Tier 1) to be appropriated for “replicating programs that have been proven effective through rigorous evaluation to reduce teenage pregnancy, behavioral risk factors underlying teenage pregnancy, or other associated risk factors.” A smaller percentage of funds (Tier 2) are dedicated to the development and testing of new programs. Together, Tier 1 and Tier 2 grantees have served millions of young people and expanded a growing body of evidence of what works to prevent teen pregnancy. In fact, the contributions of the TPP Program were also acknowledged in a September 2017 unanimously agreed-to report from the Bipartisan Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking, who highlighted the TPP Program as an example of a federal program developing increasingly rigorous portfolios of evidence. Rigorous evaluation and evidence-based practices are essential to the continued success of teen pregnancy prevention efforts for which millions of dollars have already been invested. 

Most recently, Congress passed and the President signed into law H.R. 7148, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2026, on February 3, 2026, which reauthorized the funds for the TPP program and maintained the program’s focus on replicating programs that have been proven effective through rigorous evaluation, for research and demonstration grants to develop, replicate, refine, and test additional models and innovative strategies for preventing teenage pregnancy, and to carry out evaluations (including longitudinal evaluations) of teenage pregnancy prevention approaches. Redirecting funding from the TPP program jeopardizes access to the high-quality health education, support, and resources that Congress intended. Abrupt and arbitrary disruptions on grounds unrelated to the core aims of the TPP program undermine the ability of the program to serve its congressionally intended purpose of giving young people the knowledge and tools needed to improve sexual and reproductive health outcomes and promote positive experiences, relationships, and environments that help our nation’s youth thrive. 

We urge HHS to immediately reverse the grant terminations and request a response to the following inquiries by July 10, 2026. 

1. Please explain the rationale for each of the 53 cancellations clarifying how each program "no longer effectuates agency priorities." 

2. Please provide justification as to why each of the 53 terminated grants do not align with the direction given under the language appropriating these funds as outlined in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2026. 

3. Please explain the rationale for issuing two new notices of funding opportunities (NOFOs) with intentions not outlined in the authority granted under law by under Division B, Title II of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026.