Judge ends Trump policy on ‘gender ideology’ in teen pregnancy programs
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A federal judge on Tuesday blocked the Trump administration from requiring recipients of federal teen pregnancy prevention grants to follow new rules targeting “radical indoctrination” and “gender ideology.”
U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell, appointed by former President Barack Obama, said President Donald Trump’s order was “motivated solely by political concerns, lacking any thoughtful process or analysis, and ignoring the statutory emphasis on evidence-based programming.”
The ruling marked a victory for Planned Parenthood affiliates in California, Iowa and New York, who sued to try to block the implementation of a policy change from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The decision will apply to all organizations that receive grants.
HHS, which oversees the program, declined to comment on Tuesday’s decision.
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President Donald Trump holds up an executive order after signing it during an indoor presidential inauguration parade in Washington, January 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, file)
HHS previously said in a policy document released in July that the program’s guidance “ensures that taxpayer dollars no longer fund content that infringes on parental rights, promotes radical gender ideology, or exposes children to sexually explicit material under the banner of public health.”
Planned Parenthood affiliates argued that the new guidelines conflicted with program requirements and were so vague that it was unclear how to comply.
A title sign sits outside a Planned Parenthood branch on May 16, 2023, in Pasadena, California. (AP Photo/Marcio José Sanchez, file)
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Howell agreed, writing in his decision that the HHS policy included “incomprehensibly vague” requirements and “apparently relied on irrelevant ideological factors and did not justify its change in position.”
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services building is pictured in Washington on Monday, July 13, 2020. (Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
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The changes to the pregnancy prevention program were part of a series of executive orders signed by Trump on his first day back in the White House.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
