HHS threatens states' sex education funding over "gender ideology"
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The Trump administration on Tuesday said it would pull more than $81 million in funding for 46 state and territorial programs aimed at preventing teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections unless they remove mentions of what officials called "gender ideology."
Why it matters: It's a further escalation of the administration's crackdown on gender-affirming care that's included investigations of hospitals and new fights with blue states.
- Last week, the Health and Human Services Department terminated $5.8 million for California's program — called Personal Responsibility Education Program, or PREP — after state officials refused to comply with the administration's demands.
State of play: HHS' Administration for Children and Families on Tuesday gave the states and territories 60 days to remove all references to gender ideology in PREP educational materials.
- Failure to comply will result in similar enforcement actions to California's, including the withholding, suspension, or termination of federal PREP funding, the agency said in a statement.
- New York has the most funding at risk, per data provided by HHS, with $6 million remaining. Others include Pennsylvania ($4.6 million), Georgia ($4.5 million) and Ohio and Illinois (each with almost $4.3 million).
- Remaining funds totaled $81.3 million as of August 22.
Between the lines: HHS had cited California for having curricula it said was outside of the program's authorizing statute, including lessons teaching students that gender identity is distinct from biological sex and that boys can identify as girls and vice versa.
- The California Department of Public Health told Axios in a statement that the program's curriculum is medically accurate and age-appropriate, and previously approved by HHS.
