Planned Parenthood affiliates ask court to continue grants for teen pregnancy programs (The Hill)

Saturday Mar 17th, 2018

Planned Parenthood affiliates have filed a motion in court to continue federal funding for programs receiving federal grants under the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program (TPPP).

The Trump administration last year announced it would end five-year grants for 81 institutions two years early. The grants were given under the Obama administration.

The TPPP's initiatives are aimed at reducing teen pregnancy in 31 states, with a priority on populations with high teen pregnancy rates. Baltimore Commissioner of Health Dr. Leana Wen blasted the Trump administration last year, saying the White House gave "no communication" or warning that the grants would end.

“There was no communication about the reason. The notice of the award just stated that instead of a five-year grant, it is now a three-year grant,” Wen said last November.

“We don’t have another way to fill this deficit. This will leave a huge hole in our ability to deliver health education,” she added.

Read the entire story.

Related Stories

Lead poisoning cases fell 19 percent in Baltimore last year, even as more children tested for exposure (Baltimore Sun)

The number of Baltimore children with lead poisoning fell 19 percent in 2017, even as more children were tested for exposure to the powerful neurotoxin.

Statewide, the number of Maryland children found to have elevated levels of lead in their blood held steady even as the number of children tested increased by 10 percent, according to a Maryland Department of the Environment report released Tuesday.

Read the entire story.

Trump declared an emergency over opioids. A new report finds it led to very little. (Vox)

To much fanfare last year, President Donald Trump ordered his administration to declare a public health emergency over the opioid epidemic. “As Americans, we cannot allow this to continue,” Trump said at the time. “It is time to liberate our communities from this scourge of drug addiction.”

When I’ve asked experts about these approaches, it’s not that any of them are bad. It’s that they fall short. For instance, Leana Wen, the former health commissioner of Baltimore (and soon-to-be president of Planned Parenthood), said that the Support for Patients and Communities Act “is simply tinkering around the edges.”

Read the entire story.

Azar Unveils Plan to Help Pregnant Patients Quit Opioids (MedPage Today)

States will get help from the federal government integrating services for pregnant and postpartum Medicaid patients with opioid use disorder under a pilot program announced Tuesday by Health and Hu

Visit the Newsroom