Having a religious nut as vice-president has left many women fearful of their reproductive rights and rightfully so. Unlike so many of President Trump’s fleeting cabinet members, Pence has been granted a great deal of influence and mostly acts on his own. One of those actions was likely increasing teen pregnancy by resurrecting abstinence-only education.
A Federal Judge Put A Major Damper On Pence’s Plans.
The Baltimore Sun reports that Maryland U.S. District Court Judge Catherine C. Blake ordered the Trump administration to restore $5 million in grant funding to two Baltimore-based teen pregnancy prevention programs, bluntly calling their decision to withhold the money as “arbitrary and capricious.”
The case was brought by Baltimore’s health department and Healthy Teen Network, a nonprofit group based in the city. The non-profit sued the HHS after prematurely slashing their five-year grant for teen pregnancy prevention, which would ultimately result in a loss of $3.5 million dollars.
Baltimore Health Commissioner Dr. Leana S. Wen was very pleased with the decision, saying the judge just prevented the death of legitimate health education to some 20,000 students.
Wen said Thursday:
“This ruling is a victory for the youth of Baltimore City. It’s a victory for the use of science and evidence in health.”
But they’re not quite out of the woods yet as the HHS can still appeal the decision, which all points indicate they will. Former President Barack Obama, being a realistic and intelligent President from the modern-era, removed federal funding for abstinence-only training.
But Trump’s appointment of an abstinence-only individual to a senior position in the HHS meant that the hilarious failure was brought back, appeasing socially backward conservatives. The fact that a thrice-married serial philanderer who cheated on his current wife with a porn star is the height of irony.
As of now, the decision is a major victory for believers in teens having a future. After all, many studies prove that reducing teen births increases the ability of girls to graduate from high school and to have economic stability.
Featured image Via YouTube Video.
