New York Among States Ordered To Remove Trans-Inclusive Education Materials
“Federal funds will not be used to poison the minds of the next generation or advance dangerous ideological agendas.”
Featured Image: U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. with Donald J. Trump (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through its Administration for Children and Families (ACF), put 46 states, five territories, and Washington, D.C. on notice: remove all references to gender ideology in their federally-funded Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) educational materials within 60 days—or lose funding.
“This action reflects the Trump Administration’s ongoing commitment to protecting children from attempts to indoctrinate them with delusional ideology,” the HHS announcement read.
Per ACF, PREP programs exist to “educate young people on both abstinence and contraception,” with “efforts toward preventing pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.” The programs assist youth who are homeless, in foster care, in rural areas or areas with high teen birth rates, and from minority groups, including sexual minorities. (While the latter category seems to contradict the mandate, the language remains on ACF’s Family and Youth Bureau Services website.)
Last week, HHS, through ACF, terminated $12 million in funding for California’s PREP pregnancy prevention grant over what it described as the program’s refusal to remove radical gender ideology from course materials. As GO reported in July, HHS is broadly targeting teen pregnancy prevention programs with threats to withhold support to programs that do not comply with Trump’s male/female ideology.
Among the targeted states, New York is at risk of losing the most, with over $6 million of funding in jeopardy. HHS, under Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has detailed the exact amounts of support that could be forfeited to those who do not comply with the “authorizing statute” around inclusion and ideology, including “teaching students that gender identity is distinct from biological sex or that boys can identify as girls and vice versa.”
“Federal funds will not be used to poison the minds of the next generation or advance dangerous ideological agendas,” HHS’s Acting Assistant Secretary Andrew Gradison stated in the announcement. “The Trump Administration will ensure that PREP reflects the intent of Congress, not the priorities of the left.”
According to Dr. Sara C. Flowers, Vice President of Education and Training at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the Teen Pregnancy Prevention programs (TPP) have been proven effective over the past 15 years in reducing rates of sexually transmitted infections among teens, and in promoting safer sex practices. The funding has helped arm families and adolescents with knowledge so that they can have healthy conversations about sex education and make informed decisions with regard to their own bodies.
California’s health department has 30 days to appeal the revocation of funds for its PREP sexual health education program. In the meantime, HHS has put 52 other regions and their highly successful programs on the chopping block.
