A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Department of Health and Human Services from enforcing new rules that restricted federal teen pregnancy prevention funding to programs that focus on abstinence and “body literacy.”
U.S. District Judge Christopher R. Cooper issued a preliminary injunction on Wednesday halting the new grant rules while a legal challenge moves forward. The lawsuit was brought by Hennepin County in Minnesota, King County in Washington, Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, and the advocacy group SIECUS.
In his decision, Cooper determined that the plaintiffs are likely to prove that the government’s policy change is arbitrary and capricious under federal administrative law.
“Through the TPP, Congress sought to fund a range of evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention strategies, not just abstinence,” Cooper wrote. “According to unrebutted record evidence, programs that teach abstinence to the exclusion of all other approaches are ineffective in delaying sexual initiation and reducing adolescent pregnancy, at least as a general matter.”
Congress created the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program in 2010 to support medically accurate, age-appropriate initiatives. For the 2026 fiscal year, lawmakers set aside $101 million for the main grant program, while approving a separate $35 million specifically for abstinence-only education.
In late June, HHS issued new application guidelines requiring grant seekers to teach abstinence, promote marriage and “body literacy,” and follow administration directives restricting discussions on diversity, equity, and inclusion as well as gender identity. Grantees were also barred from using materials that “normalize” teen sexual activity. Days later, HHS sent termination letters ending existing multi-year grants for providers across the country, stating their programs did not match current agency priorities.
Cooper pointed out several problems with the agency’s new criteria. He noted that the rules relied on vague terms, offered no clear explanation for abandoning past practices, and conflicted with scientific evidence. The judge also highlighted that the agency’s own materials admitted there is a “near absence of body literacy education standards nationwide,” which clashes with federal law requiring grants to fund well-tested models.
“And an educational initiative that counsels teens on how to avoid pregnancy without discussing the realities of unprotected intercourse and its alternatives would seem to defy social reality, common sense, and scientific evidence alike,” Cooper wrote.
Program leaders stated in court filings that the rules created an unworkable standard. Staff members testified that educators cannot effectively teach teens how to avoid pregnancy without discussing sexual activity directly, especially when working with young people who are already sexually active.
Although Cooper blocked HHS from applying the new funding rules, he declined to order the immediate reinstatement of the canceled grants. He cited legal questions about whether a different court, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, has exclusive authority to handle disputes over terminated federal grant agreements.
The judge required the plaintiffs to post a nominal $1 bond and denied the federal government’s request to pause the ruling during an appeal.
READ: Florida Appeals Court Rejects Inmate’s Bid To Overturn Life Sentence For Armed Sexual Battery
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