Everything You Need To Know About the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program

The Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program (TPPP) is a federal public health initiative that invests in organizations empowering young people with the education and resources they need to make informed decisions about their bodies and lives. It’s evidence-based approach has proven to be extremely successful: since Congress’s bipartisan authorization of the program in 2009, teen pregnancy rates have reached historic lows. Ruth Richardson, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States, talks to us about the administration’s overhaul of TPPP, the legal fights to challenge it, and the wide-ranging benefits of comprehensive sexuality education. 

The resounding efficacy of this public health investment has made it an ongoing target for the Trump administration. In June 2026, the Department of Health and Human Services abruptly terminated 53 of the 67 nationwide TPPP grants. These funding cuts are depriving young people of science-based sexuality education that is proven to keep them safer and healthier, forcing programs to close, stripping educators of their jobs, and eroding years of communities’ trust. A coalition of organizations and local governments is fighting back in court. In August, a federal judge preliminarily blocked the administration from implementing its proposed changes to impose an unscientific and ideological abstinence-only approach onto grantees.  

LINKS

Planned Parenthood North Central States 
Coalition Sues Trump-Vance Administration Over Harmful, Unlawful Changes to Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program 
Court Blocks Trump-Vance Administration’s Unlawful Overhaul of Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program 
Trump Administration Attacks Teen Pregnancy Prevention Just in Time for the New School Year 

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Transcript

Jennie: Welcome to rePROs Fight Back, a podcast on all things related to sexual and reproductive health, rights, and justice. [music intro]

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Jennie: Hi, rePROs. How's everybody doing? I'm your host, Jennie Wetter, and my pronouns are she/her. So, last week was such a wonderful week. I got to go up to New York for a couple of days. I was privileged to be invited to go speak to a class at the Mailman School at Columbia University. I had so much fun talking to the students and they had such great questions for me. It was so much fun. I love doing that kind of stuff. It is so nice to get to hear what young people are thinking about and where their heads are at on all of these issues. And it was just so much fun. So, Lauren, thank you so much for inviting me to come to speak to your class. I will do it anytime. But the cherry on top of getting to go speak to this class is I was able to see my old roommate and go out for dinner. And we had this amazing Thai food. It was so nice and just so fun. And the weather was gorgeous. It was nice to go walk to where we went to dinner and just get to catch up. It was lovely. And then I mean nothing else major happened. It was just, it was just a lovely week. And oh, also thank you to everybody who voted for us on the Signal Awards. We really appreciate all of your support. When this is live, you'll know if we won. We find out that day. So, very excited to find out about that. But in the meantime, the other thing that happened last week was we learned that we are a finalist in two categories for the Anthem Awards. One for Human and Civil Rights, and the other for Belonging and Inclusion. So, we'll make sure to have links in the show notes. So, if you could go vote to support us there as well, that would be amazing. I'm just so deeply honored to see our work getting recognized. We put so much passion and love behind this podcast. I love doing it so much and have just the absolute best team in the world around me to do all this. So first, huge, huge shout out to Rachel and Elena, who are my ride or die team at rePROs. Thanks to everybody at the Population Institute who supports us, and to Meg, who does our editing, the team at Tink who is working with us on helping promote the podcast. Like, we just are so blessed to have so many wonderful people around us. And what on top of all of that, I am beyond lucky for all of the wonderful guests we have had on. We have some amazing guests coming up. Like, I'm so excited, and I am just so grateful to all of you who tune in every week to check out the podcast, whether you are listening to it, whether you are watching it on YouTube, or whether you are reading the transcripts. So, thank you to all of you. Please vote for us to win an Anthem Award. We're so very excited. And yeah, just feeling really, really happy right now. I think I'm gonna do some baking this weekend to celebrate. We have a staff retreat. I'm recording this before you're listening. I mean, obviously before you're listening to it, but I'm recording this on the Friday before. So, I think I'm gonna bake some cookies to take to the staff retreat so the person who is giving me the ride can have some fun treats on our way down. So that is what I'm going to do this weekend. And I'm very much looking forward to doing some baking. I found a new recipe I want to try out. I'll let you know how it goes. Hopefully it's good. Yeah, I think maybe I'll stop there. Like I said, it was just like a happy week last week. Okay, so this week I am very excited for our episode. We're gonna talk about something, you know, we've talked a lot about sex ed on the podcast, but we've not really spent time talking about the federal program for the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program. So, today we're gonna do a deeper dive into what it is and the ways that the administration is attacking the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program. And so, joining me today, I have the wonderful Ruth Richardson with Planned Parenthood North Central States to talk to us about what is happening, the lawsuit that they are filing against the administration's attacks. It is a great conversation, and I hope you all enjoy it. Hi, Ruth. Thank you so much for being here. Thanks for having me today. I am so excited to have you here. I feel like we've talked about sex ed a lot on the podcast, but we've not necessarily talked about the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program. So, I'm really excited to dig into that. But before we get started, do you want to take a second and introduce yourself?

Ruth: Yes, I'm Ruth Richardson, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States, and really excited to have this conversation with you today.

Jennie: Yes, I'm so excited. And I’ve said I've like, you don't often meet people named Ruth, and it has like such a special place to my heart. My adopted grandmother, so there was like she was my mom's secretary when my mom first started working, and she became like an adopted grandparent to me. And so, just has a special place in my heart. So, seeing your name made me think of her.

Ruth: Well, I always love the name Ruth as well. And typically when I meet other people who have it, they're like over the age of 80. So, I feel kind of unique.

Jennie: Yeah, no, for sure. Versus Jennifer, who was, like, everyone born my year was named Jennifer. So, there were always, like, multiples in my classes. Okay, let's talk about the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program. So, what is the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program?

Ruth: The Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program is one of the country's most successful bipartisan public health investments. It's been around since 2009. It was passed with bipartisan support in Congress, and it has helped young people access evidence-based education about sexual health, healthy relationships, and prevention of sexually transmitted infections, and also unintended pregnancies as well. And one of the things about the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program is it's one of those programs where the results literally speak for themselves because unintended pregnancy rates have fallen dramatically, and it shows just how effective this program has been. And I think one thing that a lot of people don't necessarily recognize is that in 2023, for the first time in our nation's history, women over 40 gave birth to more children than teenagers, right? And the pregnancy rates are now higher for people over 40 than for teenagers in this country. So, it shows just how effective this program has been. And even though it's been incredibly effective, this administration, this current federal administration, they're not focusing on expanding this program because it works. They're actively trying to dismantle and defund this program, which is perplexing to say the least.

Jennie: Yeah, this is one of those areas that has like, again, a special place in my heart. I went to Catholic school, so obviously I had terrible "sex ed," heavy air quotes, because it was not sex education. So, it is always hearing about good, evidence-based sex ed that are giving young people the tools they need to make healthy decisions about their future and the full scope of those things, right? It is so important for young people trying to live their lives.

Ruth: Absolutely. And this program, I think, is so important because it is evidence-based information, and it's really focused on ensuring young people have the information and the facts that they need before they need them and making sure that they don't get that information too late.

Jennie: Yeah, and maybe we should talk a little bit about how this works because I feel like often when we talk about sex ed, we talk about it as that it varies from state to state, often from school district to school district. So, how does the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program fit into that picture?

Ruth: So, I think the most important thing for people to know about this Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program is it's based in science, right? It is evidence-based information that ensures that every young person can get that access to accurate information that they can trust. And when we think about sort of the concerns of why these attacks are so concerning, the type of information that we're talking about, you know, young people getting access to, it's about how to have healthy relationships. It's about making healthy choices that can prevent sexually transmitted infections. It's about getting, you know, information about overall sexual health. And when you think about this, it's like parents, you know, as a parent, and now as a grandparent, you know, you want your kids to be healthy. You want them to have informed information so that they can be safe. And that is exactly what this program does. This is about data-driven, science-based education that makes people ensure that they have the tools to make the most informed decisions that they can make.

Jennie: I always love hearing that it includes healthy relationships because that is so important. You know, young people are a demographic, particularly at risk for intimate partner violence. So, it is so important to learn those, how to identify it, and learn about what a healthy relationship should look like from the get-go.

Ruth: Exactly. To be able to get that information and a time period before you need it so that you can utilize that information to make the best choices for yourself.

Jennie: Okay. So, as you mentioned, this is a program that is currently under attack from the Trump administration. Let's talk a little bit about what has happened.

Ruth: It has been a bit of a whirlwind. Before this recent defund attempt in 2026, there was a similar defund attempt that occurred in 2025 that we successfully fought in court and were able to continue offering the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program. And fast forward to a few months ago in 2026, once again, this administration has continued to actively attempt to dismantle this program that is incredibly effective, as I talked about earlier. So the Trump administration terminated 53 grants from the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program, and that represented about $57 million of investment across the United States. And beyond just sort of the numbers of that defund, this represented like programs that were serving thousands of young people across the United States. And in addition to the defund, they are also trying to move away from the science evidence-based information that this program has been known for, that has been incredibly effective, to move towards an abstinence-only based approach. And there is no credible evidence that supports this change to moving to an abstinence-based approach. Because what the data tells us is that the opposite is true when you focus only on abstinence. When you're not talking about birth control or safe sex practices or healthy relationships, the data shows that abstinence education doesn't lower teen pregnancy rates and it doesn't delay the onset of sexual activity. So, it's really doing a disservice to our communities and to young people as well, because we know that you don't improve public health by ignoring the data. You actually improve public health by following it. And as I think about sort of the attacks of this administration, you know, we can talk about the dollar amounts, we can talk about the thousands of, you know, young people that don't have access to this information anymore. But also, like, so many educators lost their jobs, right? Programs closed, and communities have lost trusted resources. And so, in addition to young people not being able to get access to the information that they need, there's also this other human impact that is really real.

Jennie: The other thing I think about, you talk about like the loss of trusted resources, and that is like a break in trust, right? So even if the funding comes back, the trust may not instantly show back up, right? Like, that is some broken trust in those communities. And the other thing I think about, we did an episode earlier this year talking about this administration's push around pronatalism. And I feel like we'd be doing a disservice if we didn't talk about that just a little bit here because it really fits into the frame and like what they are doing with this and with Title X, where they're basically like turning those programs on their head to try and increase teen pregnancy and have less access to birth control, but have it pushing ways to get pregnant for like Title X. And so, it very much needs to be thought about in that pronatalist lens a little bit. We don't need to stay here very long, but I just felt it was worth a little bit of a call out for like that we are seeing this not just here, but in other places.

Ruth: You're absolutely correct. And before I get to that, I just want to lift up one other thing that you said about trust and that break in trust and that traumatic experience for communities. Because when you have something that is working so effectively in community and to be at a space like we were as an organization, as Planned Parenthood, we lost this funding with no notice. It led to layoffs within our region.

Jennie: You can't make plans.

Ruth: Exactly. And we're being forced to reimagine how we're providing education within our region as well. And as we think about that break in trust with community, to your point, you know, even in the space where we reimagine what education looks like, or if we're successful in this program, going back to community, you move at the speed of trust, right, within communities. And so, we can't overstate just how harmful that break is to have something that is working so well, to have it ripped away in such a way. It's incredibly harmful and damaging to communities and just thinking about the work that will need to happen to rebuild that trust is really important. But you're absolutely right. This work is not sort of happening in a vacuum.

Jennie: Right.

Ruth: And what we see happening nationally, there are these really concerning national conversations that are happening about birth control and about teen pregnancy. And I think back to in recent months, there was a senior medical analyst with ties to this Trump administration that went on Fox News and talked about the declining teen pregnancy rates as a problem.

Jennie: Right.

Ruth: And that was back in April of this year. Basically, he was arguing that because the fertility rate for teens had fallen over 70% over the last couple of decades, like this was an issue and a problem that we need to fix because society is not telling young people to have babies. And so just sort of sitting with that for a moment. And the way he framed it out was ridiculous for lack of a better word. It was basically like, you know, society is telling young people not to have babies and they're encouraging them to wait until they're financially sustainable or until they meet their partner. And it's like, no, isn't that what you want? Isn't that what you want uh people to do? Because people's teenage years should be about school, right? It should be about planning for their future, it shouldn't be about adults trying to normalize teen pregnancies on television. And it tells you just how dangerous of a space that we are in right now because all the quiet parts are being said out loud.

Jennie: Oh, yeah. Yeah, like, that has completely gone away.

Ruth: Yes. Yeah, I it is just really one of those frustrating things. Like we, like you said, there has been so much success with the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program with giving young people the tools they need so that the power is back in their hands, they can make the healthy choices. And so they are choosing to delay, and like that is clearly what they want because now that they have the information, the ability to access the services, like that is leading them to making the decisions they want, which is what we should all want. And so, pushing it so that we are not not giving them the information that they clearly want or cutting off their access to the ability to access services is taking the power away from them. And that is terrible, and not what anybody should want. And I think we also have to talk about the reality, because even with that conversation and with that, you know, that senior medical analyst going on Fox News and saying this and saying that we need young people to have more babies. Let's be clear, they're talking about some young people, not all young people.

Jennie: Yep. Yeah. Just again. So, it's just the world we're living in right now, it's just coming at us from all sides. And I just a lot of frustration in the moment. Okay. So, we've talked a little bit about some of the impacts that we would see from that we have seen. Let's talk a little bit about where we're at now because I know y'all have taken some actions.

Ruth: Yeah, we are in the space where we are fighting and we're holding the line. And as you talk about just how frustrating it is right now, you know, for us, we're thinking about the fact that last year we had a lawsuit related to the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program that we were successful in. And, you know, less than a year later, here we are once again in this space where we are, where we are, where we're fighting. So, we've challenged the Trump administration's defund of the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program, and we filed suit with a number of other partners that have also been impacted as well, including Hennepin County, Minnesota, King County, Washington, and also with the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States as well. And so, in August, [from] a federal judge in the U.S. District Court for DC, we got a preliminary injunction that blocked the Trump and the Trump Vance administration's unlawful attempt to try to completely gut the program. And while that was a small win, it didn't restore the funds. So, we are continuing to fight in court for that. But as we're going through this process yet again, it's so I you know the frustrating part about it is that, you know, we went to court because access to this really effective program shouldn't depend on political whims.

Jennie: Yeah.

Ruth: Right? It shouldn't depend on, you know, nonexistent scientific evidence. And one of the things that the court was really clear about, you know, some of the rationale that the government laid out related to this case was based on non-scientific evidence and potentially like false AI-generated citations. So, we're in a really hard place right now in terms of thinking about how the programs have already been disrupted, and communities are feeling the consequences of this, but we have no choice but to fight. And in this space where there is so much frustration, I always remind myself of the shoulders of the people that we're standing on top of who did so much more with so much less. And I think that is one of the things that keeps me going within this space because we know when we think about freedom, that freedom is something that we have to fight for within every generation. So, this is our time to hold this line.

Jennie: I love the turn to make it more inspiring. It is always so great to see people fighting back. I can't imagine the frustration of like having fought this last year and then having to do it all over again. Like that is just draining like emotionally resources, like in all the ways. Time, like your time could be better spent, like doing the programs. But it is so great to see people out there fighting the fight to ensure that these programs can continue.

Ruth: Absolutely. That is, you know, that's our call. That's our mission.

Jennie: So, the thing I was thinking of, you know, we talked about like the break in trust of the community, but also with the programs being starved of money, like people have had to lay people off, buildings could have closed, like staff could have moved on and found new jobs. So, like, even just getting the money back does not mean everything comes right back. There's a rebuild process that will inevitably have to happen. So, I guess that just l has me thinking about, you know, what comes next. So, you have the pause at the moment, but you there's the money still hasn't flowed, right?

Ruth: Yeah. So, as we think about where we are right now, we are really reimagining the way that we provide education. You know, we continue to provide patient-focused education within our health centers, but as we think about that community outreach and that community aspect, we are in a space now where we are rethinking how we deliver that, right? We're looking at hybrid options, digital options, in-person options, and also trying to think about all the various ways that we can try to connect with young people where they are. And this is incredibly important because in this time and age, there's so much misinformation out there. There's so much disinformation that exists as well on social media. And so there is this real need to be able to dispel those things that are not going to make our communities healthier. So that is one of the spaces that we're focused on right now. And regardless of the outcome of this lawsuit, we are forced to reimagine what education looks like. Because to your point, even if we're successful again and regaining access to the teen pregnancy prevention dollars, we are going to be in a rebuild phase, not only from a staffing perspective, but also in terms of thinking about the spaces within the community where there have been those impacts. So, a restoration of funding doesn't just turn the light on and make everything better again, because those harms that have been experienced are incredibly real.

Jennie: I love hearing about getting creative and trying to think of new ways to reach young people because there are so many different places that people are now. There isn't, like, we just go here and like we'll reach everybody. So, that creativity is such an important part of this process.

Ruth: It is. And I think it's also incredibly urgent as we think about that reimagining because we're living in a moment where misinformation and disinformation is traveling faster than facts. Oh, for sure. So, that makes that work so much more incredibly important within this moment. And, you know, and as we as we think about what we're seeing, not just about sexual health like misinformation. There's a sea of misinformation about birth control and you know, just thinking about all the things that are critical to understanding to prevent unintended pregnancies. So, you know, the answer that we need is better education, not less education, or not pushing forward, you know, non-scientific based data that is doing nothing to make our communities healthier. And so, in this space, as I think about what needs to happen, absolutely we want our funding restored. But even if the funding isn't restored, we still have to think about how we're gonna deliver this information. And thinking about ways that we can expand access to scientific-based, evidence-based information is critically important as well. And as I think about the work of trying to combat online misinformation and disinformation, that's not something we can do in a silo. That's not something that we can do sort of school district by school district, or county by county, or state by state. There really needs to be a national approach to that work to ensure that we are combating that online misinformation and disinformation in real time because the risk of harm as time elapses between that is too great for our communities to bear. And I'm also just thinking about all the educators that have been impacted as well. And so, like the support for those educators, and also thinking about our healthcare providers that find themselves dealing with this unrelenting, just the unrelenting attacks. There, the need for support in this space where people are carrying so much and are feeling so frustrated and frankly are feeling the burnout related to it. Like, that support is gonna be so much more needed in this space.

Jennie: The other thing that I think when we think about making sure that young people get evidence-based sex education or just even broader, like, you know, information around birth control and all those things is that that it is the information, if you're getting evidence-based, is presented in a way that doesn't bring all of that shame and stigma. Yeah. Again, I talked about going to Catholic school and I have unlearned the facts, right? The facts that I was taught about, you know, "birth control doesn't work," "condoms don't work, so you shouldn't use them." Like, all of those things were easy to, like, unlearn and, like, facts can overcome. But that like shame and stigma, it like sticks and is really hard to get rid of. And yes, I talk about sex education and abortion and birth control and all the things on this podcast, but I'm still processing in the background like all of those things that were foisted on me through Catholic school education around sex education and shame and stigma that are really hard to get rid of.

Ruth: Yeah, the shame and stigma piece I think is incredibly important. And it's also something that we don't always talk enough about in terms of how that shame and stigma can play out. Because shame and stigma, those are things that can lead to secrets. Secrets can keep, you know, can cover up harm.

Jennie: You can't ask questions.

Ruth: Yes, exactly. And then when you're not asking those questions and you're not getting access to information and sort of the real time of when you need it, you can find yourself in situations that are really incredibly harmful and in spaces that could be prevented, right? And so, in terms of thinking about, you know, an unintended pregnancy, for example, if you're being told that, you know, birth control doesn't work, so you should use it, right? Or if you're being told that birth control is harmful, so you shouldn't use it. I mean, that can have real, real implications for not only like individuals, but also thinking about overall families and also thinking about our communities as well. Because when we think about the power of comprehensive sex education, it's not just about educating that individual, it actually strengthens families, it strengthens communities, it reduces poverty, it promotes educational attainment, and it also saves taxpayers billions of dollars as well, right? Because when individuals have the information that they need to ensure that if they are planning their pregnancies, first of all, planned pregnancies are healthier pregnancies, right? And if you are ensuring that economically and financially you are in a space that you are able to afford a pregnancy, those are all things that have implications for communities overall. And I always think about sort of in these spaces where we have so much that is being attacked that we know is really truly effective, we are going to be asking ourselves, you know, down the road, where would we be if we had an administration that was investing aggressively in what has actually been proven to work? Instead of investing in these harmful like culture wars, we are going to have less healthy young people, we're gonna have less healthy communities when we could be in the space that we know what works, we could invest in that, and we could be setting ourselves up in the future for healthier communities and better outcomes. And it's not lost on me that this is the same administration where we have seen kids cut off from SNAP benefits, right? So that they're not able to get access to food. We now have like a measles outbreak, which is something that had been eradicated. And now we are once again seeing these outbreaks. We're seeing people die from something that is completely preventable because we're the verge of all the Medicaid cuts too going into effect. Yes, because the delay of those until after the midterms was a was a choice, right? And so, the real pain of that HR1 reconciliation bill from last year, that is going to be felt after the midterms. People are going to start to lose access to Medicaid, and communities are really going to start to feel the implications of what happens when you are not focused on creating healthier communities and better outcomes for everyone.

Jennie: Ruth, I feel like I could talk to you about this forever, but let's be cognizant of your time and wrap up with my usual question of what can the audience do? How can the audience get involved in this fight right now?

Ruth: So, there's lots that people can do. And I always want people to know the power of their voice and the power of the everyday individual to make change, because that is the only thing that has ever made change in our country is everyday people deciding to stand up and to speak up. So, starting with families— talk really openly with your children, right? About the importance of data-driven, evidence-based education. There are ways that you can keep those lines of communication open. I think that is going to be an incredibly helpful way at the family level that we can challenge misinformation and disinformation. And then think about that on the larger scale within your communities as well. When you see misinformation, when you see disinformation, regardless of the intent, call it out when you see it. That is something that we all have within our power to do. Advocating for comprehensive sex education is incredibly important. As we talked about at the top of this, it works, right? We are in a space that the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program did exactly what it was designed to do. And so, often we hear people criticizing government programs. This is a program that has done exactly what it was designed to do. And as you think about that advocacy, we also need to be focused on ensuring that when we're making public policy, we're basing it on the evidence, right? So, as we think about the research and the evidence base, it shouldn't be divorced from the policy. They should inform each other. And the practice should also be integrated in as well to ensure that we're putting forward evidence-based practices that go back to the science to get the outcomes that we want to see. People's stories are important. Share your personal stories. The good stories, the hard stories. Being able to hear that information is incredibly important for people to know that they're not alone. And as you said, sometimes people are afraid to ask the questions that they want the answers to. So being able to have people who are speaking out in ways that are factual are going to continue to be incredibly important. And, you know, last but not least, I would be remiss if I didn't say donate to Planned Parenthood. With the ongoing attacks on our funding, the attacks are unrelenting. The donor support is very critical to the work that we do, including the education work as well, to really be able to reach a community. So, I think that there are ways that as a community, we all can find a role to play. And let's also be honest, young people are paying attention, right? And in this space, we have to ask ourselves: what are we doing to ensure that we can create the best conditions for them to make the best-informed choices? That's our responsibility.

Jennie: Ruth, thank you so much for being here. It was such a pleasure to get to talk to you today.

Ruth: Thank you so much for raising awareness around this and keeping this dialogue going. Everyone, everyone needs to hear this. So thank you for what you do.

Jennie: Okay, y'all. I hope you had had a great time listening to this episode. It was really fun to get to talk about the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program. Like I said, we've not really done a deep dive on it before. So, I hope you enjoyed it. And if you get a chance, don't forget to vote for us from for the Anthem Awards. The link will be in the show notes. We'll make sure it is accessible everywhere. And I will see everyone next week. [music outro] If you have any questions, comments, or topics you would like us to cover, always feel free to shoot me an email. You can reach me at jennie@reprosfightback.org, or you can find us on social media or at rePROs Fight Back on Facebook and Twitter, or @reprosfb on Instagram. If you love our podcast and want to make sure more people find it, take the time to rate and review us on your favorite podcast platform. Or if you want to make sure to support the podcast, you can also donate on our website at reprosfightBack.com. Thanks all.