Baltimore City will join an existing lawsuit against the federal government seeking the restoration of grant funding supporting the city's Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program.

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This week, Baltimore City announced that we will be joining a lawsuit against President Trump, challenging his Administration’s cut in federal funding for evidence-based reproductive health education programs.

In July 2017, the Health Department received notice from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ Office of Adolescent Health that the grant period for Baltimore City’s Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program would be terminated two years early. This amounts to a reduction in overall funding from $8.6 million to $5.1 million – a cut of $3.5 million.

This funding cut will result in reduced access to evidence-based teen pregnancy curricula for 20,000 students in Baltimore, creating a vacuum in critical health education for thousands of vulnerable teens. It eliminates the capacity to train teachers in evidence-based reproductive health education and jeopardizes our Youth Advisory Council—Baltimore City teens who act as peer health advocates.

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The Osler Medical Symposium (OMS) kicked off its first event, “Baltimore in the 21st Century: A Commissioner’s Perspective,” on Friday, March 2 in Gilman Hall. The panel featured Dr. Peter Beilenson and Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, both of whom served as former Baltimore health commissioners, as well as Dr. Michelle Gourdine, the former deputy secretary for public health in Maryland. The discussion was moderated by Dr. Leana Wen, the current health commissioner for Baltimore.

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A group of city delegates, including Majority Whip Talmadge Branch, are proposing less police intensive alternatives, including a bill that would expand the Safe Streets program across the city by establishing a permanent $3.6 million funding stream.

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