In compliance with Montana’s strict parental opt-out laws, Bridgercare educators provided materials to parents in advance of sessions. Students who showed up in class were those whose parents did not object.

Stephanie McDowell, Bridgercare’s executive director, has two teenagers. “I want my kids to get good sex ed in school, where they’re all getting accurate information together. Then they can talk about values with each other and the adults they trust. But the removal of this funding makes the decision for me as a parent about what education will now be available.”

The grant cancellations and new application criteria reflect a tactical shift from July 2017, when the first Trump administration, without explanation, alerted all 81 grantees in the program that their federal funding would end in a year. In 2018, federal courts ordered the funding to be restored, saying the terminations were at odds with the health department’s own regulations.

This time, the administration is trying to lay a foundation to argue that the newly terminated programs run afoul of the government’s priorities. Last year it issued executive orders and a statement of priorities, barring pregnancy prevention programs from promoting material that “depicts, describes, exposes or presents obscene, indecent or sexually explicit content, including content that encourages, normalizes or promotes sexual activity for minors.”

Since the federal grants began in 2010, teen birthrates in South Carolina have dropped 59 percent. Yet as of 2024, when the latest federal data was completed, the state still ranked at No. 11 nationwide in teen births. Dr. Dixon, like some other program directors, has decided to adjust to the new criteria; the funding is too crucial. Fact Forward will turn in its application this week.

“It’s a real disservice to what we know works best in our state,” Dr. Dixon said. “But if I can keep some of our programs from closing so that young people are still hearing about healthy relationships, something is better than nothing. I don’t know if we’ll be successful, but at least I’m going to try.”