Baltimore City joined a lawsuit brought by Healthy Teen Network against President Trump, challenging a decision by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to cut funding from evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention education.

In June 2015, the Baltimore City Health Department (BCHD) was awarded an $8.6 million grant to implement comprehensive, evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention education in all of the City’s more than 120 middle schools and high schools.

In July 2017, BCHD received notice from HHS that the grant period would be terminated two years early. This termination amounts to a reduction in overall grant funding to $5.1 million — a funding cut of $3.5 million. Despite multiple phone and written requests for explanation, Baltimore City has not received a response from HHS as to why our program is being terminated.

This cut is not just cruel — it’s unprecedented. Funding for Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiatives (TPPI) was appropriated by an act of Congress — a statutory mandate — specifically dictating to HHS the parameters under which the funding was to be distributed. The funding appropriated is still available for the five-year grant period.

Read Dr. Wen's full op-ed.