Obama Judge Blocks HHS OPA Rescissions To Teen Pregnancy Program

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper blocked the grant rescissions of Health and Human Services (HHS) in the Office of Population Affairs (OPA) Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) Program.  Contrary to this Stateline story, 73 different organizations received funding totaling $ 101 million through the TPP program prior to the OPA rescissions at the end of June.

The Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program (TPP) was created within the FY 2010 omnibus appropriations (P.L. 111-117) passed by Congress in 2009.  It was designed as a national, evidence-based grant program aimed at diverse organizations working to prevent teen pregnancy through effective educational programs.  TPP program grants must use evidence-based education models that have been shown to be effective in reducing teen pregnancy and related risk behaviors. A small share of TPP funds is available for research and demonstration grants that implement innovative strategies to prevent teenage pregnancy. The Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020 (P.L. 116-94) provided the current $ 101 million for the program.

The Obama district court judge here is arrogating authority which he does not have under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) to enforce his personal political opposition to abstinence based pregnancy programming.  Quelle surprise!  The APA does apply to federal grants, but claims related to grant terminations must be pursued in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims rather than federal district courts under the APA.  The sleazebag plaintiffs' lawyers involved here and the "judge" knew this, of course, but they wanted headlines and injunctions fast.  The USCFC APA claims process is quite complex and protracted for grant terminations:

https://michiganadvance.com/2026/08/20/repub/federal-judge-halts-proposed-hhs-changes-to-teen-pregnancy-prevention-program/

Federal judge halts proposed HHS changes to teen pregnancy prevention program
By Kelcie Moseley-Morris of Stateline - August 20, 2026

A federal judge in the District of Columbia issued an order Wednesday blocking U.S. Health and Human Services from implementing sweeping changes to grants under the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program while a lawsuit proceeds, but dozens of existing grants that were canceled this summer will remain so for now, unless the administration chooses to reinstate the funds.

The agency canceled 53 out of 67 grants under the program at the end of June, affecting grantees in more than two dozen states, including Louisiana, New York, Oklahoma and Texas. Grantees were given no advance notice and were told their programs did not align with agency priorities — most were told their programs normalized or promoted sexual activity for minors. The grants were canceled two years before their expiration dates.

Following the cancellations, three affected grantees and sex education advocacy group SIECUS: Sex Ed for Social Change filed a lawsuit in the District of Columbia federal court district on July 14. U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, said the plaintiffs are likely to succeed in the case, warranting his decision to block the Trump administration’s actions.

But Cooper said it’s unclear whether he can order the restoration of nearly $70 million in canceled funds, and that other court cases need to be resolved before he can move forward with that kind of action.

Congress established the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program in 2010 as a national, evidence-based grant program that would fund diverse programs working to prevent teen pregnancy using methods that have repeatedly shown to be effective. Grant recipients typically offer educational programs about preventing pregnancy or identifying healthy relationships, and provide referrals for community and healthcare resources as needed.

Since then, teen pregnancy rates have fallen about 72%, which researchers say is the biggest contributor to the overall drop in national birth rates.

To replace the canceled grants, HHS published two notices for new programs that focused less on preventing pregnancy and more on fertility tracking, “body literacy” goals and “reproductive goals counseling.”

“HHS is perfectly entitled to formulate its own views about how to stem teen pregnancy — or even whether it is worth preventing at all — and to pursue policy initiatives consistent with its viewpoint,” Cooper wrote in his ruling. “But it is not at liberty … to impose conditions on grant recipients that Congress did not intend or that are unreasonable or unexplained. The preliminary record suggests that HHS has done just that.”

Cooper said HHS could choose to reissue the grant funding opportunities under the previous guidelines, but it can’t move forward with the new ones while the lawsuit proceeds.

The judge also noted that in July 2025, HHS issued a notice telling grantees to revise their programs to align with current executive orders, including by deleting any references to health equity and inclusivity, and offered guidance about what it considered medically accurate and age appropriate content.

Three grantees sued over the notice, saying it was contrary to the statute guiding the program as established by Congress, and another D.C. judge agreed, vacating the guidance and blocking its implementation.

“As the saying goes, ‘When at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.’ HHS has taken this adage to heart,” Cooper wrote this week, citing the 2025 court case. “Unfazed by the adverse ruling, HHS issued new (grant funding notices) that repackaged the vacated policy changes and imposed additional grant parameters.”

The administration could appeal the decision in the coming weeks. Stateline has requested comment from HHS officials.