Copyright M Live Michigan
MICHIGAN -- A federal judge in Oregon has blocked a Trump administration attempt to halt teen sex education funding to Michigan and other states over gender identity language in curriculum. The AP reports that U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken issued a preliminary injunction Monday as part of a lawsuit filed against the Health and Human Services Department by 16 states and the District of Columbia, which argued that pulling such money violated the separation of powers and federal law. The lawsuit, filed last month, says the department is attempting to force the states to “rewrite sexual health curricula to erase entire categories of students.” It describes the action as “the latest attempt from the current administration to target and harm transgender and gender-diverse youth.”\ The Trump administration said in court filings that Health and Human Services has the authority to impose conditions for receiving funding grants. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel joined the lawsuit. In Michigan, the defunding threat involved nearly $3.4 million in Personal Responsibility Education Program funding. PREP provides education to help teenagers reduce pregnancy and the spread of sexually transmitted infections. In Michigan, PREP supports programming at 25 school buildings and 8 community-based organizations and serves thousands of young people across the state, Nessel’s staff said.
