Baltimore to join lawsuit against U.S. health agency over cuts to programs that help prevent teen pregnancy (Baltimore Sun)
Baltimore is planning to join a lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s administration that challenges a cut in federal funding for programs designed to reduce teen pregnancy rates, the city’s top lawyer said Wednesday.
The suit was filed last month in U.S. District Court in Baltimore by Healthy Teen Network, a national nonprofit based in the city that has experienced a reduction to a $3.6 million federal grant it received from the federal department to develop and study an app to provide sex education.
Baltimore’s health department initially was awarded an $8.5 million federal grant for five years for a program to provide sex education for about 20,000 students. But last summer the department was told by the federal health agency that the money would be cut off after three years, leading to a loss of $3.5 million.
Dr. Leana Wen, the city’s health commissioner, said the reduction would greatly harm the department’s ability to provide services.
“We should be doing everything we can to empower youth to succeed and to thrive,” Wen said in a statement. “We have made significant progress to reduce teen birth rates, and the last thing that should happen is to roll back the gains that have been made.”