Baldwin Demands RFK, Jr. Restore Abruptly Cancelled Teen Pregnancy Prevention Funding

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and her colleagues are sounding the alarm on the Trump administration’s recent decision to terminate nearly all Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) Program grants and are calling upon Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to immediately reinstate the funding for over 50 grantees nationwide, including the $1.2 million that was used to prevent teen pregnancy in Wisconsin. The $1.2 million was used to prevent unintended pregnancies and sexually-transmitted infections among young people, educate teens on how to navigate the healthcare system, and train medical providers on effectively communicating with teens.

“We write to express our outrage over your recent decision to terminate the vast majority of Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program grants, which will deprive teens across the U.S. of vital resources and threaten to unwind decades of progress made in reducing teen pregnancy,” wrote Baldwin and the Senators.

In their letter to Secretary Kennedy, the lawmakers note that teen pregnancy in the U.S. has been on a steady decline for decades, thanks in part to successful programs like Teen Pregnancy Prevention. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the teenage birth rate fell by 7% in 2025, reaching another historic low.

The Senators also note that the abrupt termination of these grants aligns with the Trump Administration’s pattern of rejecting evidence and science, ignoring Congressional intent and authority, and undermining the ability of people to make their own healthcare decisions. President Trump has long sought to destroy the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program, including trying to fully eliminate it in his fiscal year 2026 budget, as did his prior budgets.

“We demand that you immediately reverse course and reinstate funding for established grantees of the TPP Program, who are midway through their grants and doing essential work to prevent teen pregnancy,” the lawmakers conclude.

The letter was led by Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and also co-signed by 17 Senate colleagues.

The full letter is available here and below:

Dear Secretary Kennedy:

We write to express our outrage over your recent decision to terminate the vast majority of Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) Program grants, which will deprive teens across the U.S. of vital resources and threaten to unwind decades of progress made in reducing teen pregnancy. These grants, which were canceled in the middle of their five-year project period, supported evidence-based programs that worked to prevent teen pregnancy and behavioral risk factors underlying teen pregnancy, as is required by law. This decision to cancel 53 of 66 existing grants follows a pattern of actions the Trump Administration has taken to undermine access to comprehensive reproductive healthcare and put the health and wellbeing of our young people at risk. We call on you to immediately reinstate funding for these grantees who have a proven track record of working to uphold the goals of the program in accordance with the law.

For the last 35 years, the teen birth rate has been declining. According to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the teenage birth rate fell by 7% in 2025, reaching another historic low. In 1991, the number of babies born to mothers ages 15 to 19 was more than five times higher than it is today. Evidence suggests that these declines are driven by several factors, including the use of more effective forms of contraception, greater access to information about pregnancy prevention, and a decline in teen sexual activity[1], which the TPP Program has supported.

The very goal of the TPP Program when it was established in 2010 was to support evidence-driven practices that would reduce teen pregnancy, with the majority of funds directed to programs with models whose effectiveness at preventing teen pregnancy had been demonstrated through rigorous evaluation, known as “Tier 1”, and a smaller portion of funds for the development and testing of new prevention programs, or “Tier 2,” which helps to grow the list of approved Tier 1 curricula.

The bipartisan law that most recently appropriated funding for the program in fiscal year 2026 reiterated the program’s goals—providing $101 million for “making competitive contracts and grants to public and private entities to fund medically accurate and age appropriate programs that reduce teen pregnancy” with 75 percent of funds directed toward “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.”

These grants were awarded to state and local health departments, universities, and community organizations across America, like the Boys & Girls Club. These are organizations that know exactly how to reach young people to provide them with the information they need to make smart decisions about their health and futures.

We know that both Trump Administrations have long sought to destroy the TPP Program. President Trump’s fiscal year 2026 budget proposed to eliminate it, as did his prior budgets, and in 2017, the Trump Administration attempted to cancel every TPP Program grant, a decision that was ultimately struck down by the courts. Now, however, allies of the president have increasingly suggested that declining teen birth rates are a “problem.” It appears this administration may agree with that assessment as you cancel funding for these proven programs. Your decision to terminate this funding squarely aligns with your department’s established pattern of rejecting evidence and science, ignoring Congressional intent, and undermining the ability of people to make their own healthcare decisions.

We demand that you immediately reverse course and reinstate funding for established grantees of the TPP Program, who are midway through their grants and doing essential work to prevent teen pregnancy.

Sincerely,

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.

Recent Press Releases by U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin

Baldwin Slams Trump for Cutting Off Support for Paralyzed Americans

Jul 2nd, 2026 by U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin

HHS let a grant expire that supports the National Paralysis Resource Center, cutting off key services for more than 5 million paralyzed Americans

Baldwin Calls for Investigation Into USPS Delays During Wisconsins Spring Election

Jul 1st, 2026 by U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin

Baldwin: “If the election mail delays that we saw this spring are not addressed, they are likely to disenfranchise an even greater number of voters during the fall elections”

Baldwin, Colleagues Demand USPS Abandon Effort to Carry Out Trump’s Illegal Executive Order Restricting Vote by Mail

Jun 25th, 2026 by U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin

Over 500,000 Wisconsinites voted by mail in the 2024 Election