Judge rules against HHS cuts to teen pregnancy prevention programs

Reproductive rights advocates scored a number of wins in the federal courts last week.

On Thursday, a federal judge in D.C. ruled against cuts by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program. The case involved four of more than 80 organizations that were told their five-year grants to the program that were originally set to end in 2020 would instead be cut in 2018, The Hill reported

The judge in the case ordered HHS to process of the applications of the four grantees involved. HHS did not respond with comment to the publication.

RELATED: HHS Awards Evidence-Based Teen Pregnancy Prevention Grants

In a separate case, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago ruled Indiana's ban on selective abortions is "unconstitutional."

The ban, which was meant to block abortions based on the gender, race or disability of a fetus, was signed into law in 2016 by the-Gov. Mike Pence, Reuters reported.

“The Supreme Court has been clear: the State may inform a woman’s decision before viability, but it cannot prohibit it,” Judge William Bauer wrote in the decision.

RELATED: Trump administration gives health workers who oppose abortion new protections