US: Admin announces abstinence-focused overhaul of teen pregnancy program

The Trump administration will shift federal funding aimed at reducing teen pregnancy rates to programs that teach abstinence. 

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced Friday the availability of grants through the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program, (TPPP) a grant program created under former President Obama that funds organizations and programs working to reduce teen pregnancy rates. 

Trump's HHS announced, however, that unlike under the Obama administration, grants will be geared toward organizations that teach abstinence education to teens instead of the comprehensive sex ed approach the previous administration supported. 

In a funding announcement released Friday, the administration announced two tiers of funds for the TPP program. 

In the first, grantees would have to follow one of two abstinence programs to receive funding. 

One of the programs uses a "sexual risk reduction model," which is designed to reduce sexual risk behaviors. 

The other program uses a "sexual risk avoidance model," which teaches teens to avoid sex completely.  Read more via the Hill