Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall wants to work with the Trump administration to stop any federal funding of sex-change procedures on children.

Marshall, who is also a candidate for the U.S. Senate, led a coalition of 24 States in filing a letter with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services urging the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to cease paying for these radical transgender practices.

“Medicaid and Medicare should never have been allowed to use taxpayer dollars to fund radical and dangerous sex-change procedures for children,” Marshall said. “We support the Trump administration’s proposal to reverse course. We know the dangers of these procedures firsthand. Through years of litigation defending Alabama’s law, we uncovered a political and medical scandal involving the leading medical guidelines that recommend using sterilizing hormones and surgeries to ‘treat’ children suffering from gender dysphoria.”

https://x.com/AGSteveMarshall/status/2024193762780381486

The letter, sent to Secretary Kennedy, issues direct comments on two proposed rules that would restrict federal funding from continuing to subsidize sex-change procedures for minors under Medicare and Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

“The guidelines were built on ideology and politics, not science, and have led to untold harm to children and their parents,” Marshall continued. “Children deserve better, and the first step in helping them is to stop funding the harm.”

In the Alabama-led letter, the coalition discusses evidence uncovered in litigation regarding the “Standards of Care 8” (SOC-8) published by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH).

The letter extensively discusses evidence showing that WPATH used SOC-8 to advance political and legal goals, changed its treatment recommendations based on politics, departed from well-accepted best practices for creating medical guidelines, hindered the publication of systematic evidence reviews appraising the safety and efficacy of sex-change procedures for minors, and even went so far as deeming castration “medically necessary” for males who self-identify as “eunuchs.”

Marshall has been a strong advocate for the rights of parents on this issue. Last year, he led amicus briefs filed in the Fourth and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeals that defended President Donald Trump’s executive order banning federal agencies from funding sex-change procedures for minors.

He also led the effort in defending Alabama’s Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act in the courts.

Marshall is joined on the letter by the attorneys general of Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on Twitter @Yaffee

There is one Alabamian who is working hard as a part of the Trump administration to Make America Healthy Again.

Admiral Brian Christine serves as the 18th Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In this role, he provides leadership on the nation’s public health priorities, including chronic disease prevention and efforts to strengthen the nation’s overall health.

Christine discussed his work with HHS Secretary RFK Jr. during a sit-down interview with “Rightside Radio” hosts Allison Sinclair and Amie Beth Shaver.

“So my agenda is, of course, Secretary Kennedy’s agenda and the President’s agenda,” Christine said.

“We all work for the president. He is Commander in Chief. I work with Secretary Kennedy as we both serve the president and serve the people. And so the things that are really important to us at the Department of Health and Human Services, we know that, affordability of health care, affordability of drugs, making sure we have good health care delivered to everybody, whether it be in a city or in these rural environments. That is something incredibly important to the President and the Secretary and myself also.”

https://x.com/Rightside_Media/status/2020954042298474717?s=20

Christine said the difference in this administration versus the previous one is they are guided the fact, no partisan politics.

“So affordability, these values, issues, and doing everything so different from the last administration and the last Department of Health and Human Services, we absolutely are guided by science,” he explained. “That’s something that Secretary Kennedy has said again and again. We are guided by gold standard science, and we use that science to form policy and to do things that are going to make America healthier, healthier than she’s ever been.”

RELATED: Mountain Brook doctor nominated by President Trump as Assistant Secretary for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Christine also discussed his impressions of RFK Jr. as a leader from the administration.

“He is, this is gonna sound like I’m slinging a line, but he’s amazing…He’s a very kind man,” Christine said. “He’s an incredibly thoughtful man. I’m going to say he’s a humble man in that he’s not afraid to say, in my life, I’ve made mistakes, I’ve had substance abuse issues. He’s not afraid to admit mistakes. He’s not afraid to admit wrongs, but he’s not afraid to stand for what he believes. He’s a very he’s a really kind man. He’s a really thoughtful man. So that, again, I believe he’s like to me, and when I when I’ve seen him with his wife, when I’ve seen him interacting with us, it’s amazing.”

Full episode also available on YouTube:

Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on X @Yaffee

U.S. Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Hoover) believes several Democratic lawmakers in the House are wasting time by trying to subpoena President Donald Trump’s Secretary of Health and Human Services.

During an Energy and Commerce Committee hearing Wednesday, Palmer, who chairs the committee, blocked an attempt by Democrats in the committee to subpoena U.S. HHS Sec. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over his stance on vaccines.

Palmer said on WVNN’s “The Yaffee Program” Wednesday that Democrats just want to try and “embarrass” RFK because they hate Trump.

“I mean, if you watch any of these hearings, it’s just a constant barrage against the Trump administration,” Palmer said,  “against when we talk about health care. It’s it’s almost like they think we’re the ones who pass the Obamacare, that we’re the ones who pass the enhanced subsidies.”

The congressman believes Democrats are being dishonest about their intentions.

“They’re really trying to misrepresent the whole debate, confuse the American people, and they’re attacking RFK over vaccines,” he said. “And it’s interesting to me how hard the Democrats pushed vaccination for COVID, when most people knew that there was no vaccination and a vaccine is to prevent you from contracting a disease, not to mitigate the effects of having an ailment. So it’s just one lie after another.”

Palmer also accused Democrats about lying over the debate surrounding the extension of Obamacare subsides.

“We didn’t create the problem,” he explained. “We didn’t set the deadline for the for the enhanced subsidies to end that’s all Democrats, and it has, it won’t do anything to help the other 93 94% who have health insurance outside of Obamacare.”

Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on X @Yaffee

U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Haleyville) is surprised that a generic abortion drug was approved under the Trump administration.

Earlier this month, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a generic form of mifepristone, one of the two medications used most to carry out abortions in the U.S.

The FDA said the generic version “therapeutically equivalent” to the brand-name version, Mifeprex, which has been available in the U.S. since 2000.

Aderholt, who is staunchly pro-life, said he hopes the Department of Health and Human Services will reverse that decision.

The congressman discussed this Tuesday on “Washington Watch.”

“Yeah, that was very disappointing. I’ll just be honest with you,” Aderholt said. “Coming out of the Trump administration, of course, this was under the watch of the current Secretary of Health and Human Services that caught us all by surprise. We were not expecting that.”

The pill is made by Evita Solutions, a company that claims on its website that “the medical community in recognizing the utility and freedom that medical abortion provides patients.”

Aderholt said no form of the drug mifepristone should be used ever.

“The drug is not safe, and it is whether it’s generic or whether it’s a non generic drug,” he argued. “This performs an abortion, and it is very dangerous for the mother, and it is just something that I is very puzzling to us, and we’re trying to get the bottom of it.”

Aderholt said he will join other members of Congress in trying and fight against this decision.

“Members of Congress are coming out, right and left in support of us, trying to get the Department of Health and Human Services to pull this back,” he said. “So I don’t know what happened over there at the Department of Health and Human Services, but I this is not something that I think most people who voted for Donald Trump would have expected.”

Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on X @Yaffee.

U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville voiced support for President Trump’s U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and slammed skeptical colleagues in a Tuesday afternoon speech on the Senate floor.

Following a heated Senate Finance Committee hearing last week, in which both Republican and Democratic senators criticized Kennedy’s management of HHS, Tuberville posted on X to make clear his continued support of Kennedy.

Tuberville doubled down on Tuesday.

“What the American people saw last week in the Finance Committee with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. was not a hearing on oversight. It was a dogpile by politicians who are scared to death of questioning the status quo,” Tuberville (R-Auburn) said.

https://x.com/SenTuberville/status/1965128165929468128

“It was Washington at its worst — a full-on blitz against one man for the simple crime of telling the truth and refusing to play ball with the Swamp.”

Coach Tuberville, a 40-year veteran of college football sidelines who is running to succeed Kay Ivey as Alabama’s governor in 2026, is widely known for frequent football analogies.

“I spent 40 years in coaching before I got into this clown show. I know what it looks like when a player gets piled on, and I know what it looks like when referees refuse to call a fair game, and I know what it looks like when the other team tries to run up the score. That’s exactly what we saw last week — a coordinated, deep-state, hit-job on Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.”

Tuberville took specific aim at Senate Finance Democrats who provoked Kennedy into repeated screaming matches during the hearing.

“Democrats came into that hearing ready to throw every flag they could in an attempt to get 20 seconds of fame on their social media.”

“Senator Wyden opened up with a personal attack, calling for RFK’s resignation. Senator Warnock piled on, calling him a ‘hazard to public health.’ Senator Warren tried to run a trick play, twisting his words to paint him as dishonest, and Senator Sanders just couldn’t stomach the fact that someone finally said out loud what everybody already knows — for years, big pharma money has corrupted politicians and our medical institutions. Big pharma is quietly calling way too many of the plays here in D.C.”

The senator then turned to committee Republicans.

“And, I was particularly disappointed because several of my Republican colleagues joined in on this fiasco.”

“Something I’ve learned is, when you challenge the status quo, you find out real quick who’s willing to stand with you and who’s just concerned with getting reelected,” Tuberville said.

During the hearing last Thursday, Republican Senators Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) and John Barrasso (R-Wyoming) expressed their doubts over Kennedy’s ability to continue to lead HHS.

“I didn’t come to Washington to protect the Swamp. I came here to fight for the great state of Alabama and the people across this country, for the parents trying to raise healthy kids, and for families who have felt lied to by their government, for the hardworking folks who lost their jobs simply because they chose not to take the COVID vaccine,” Tuberville said in closing.

“I’m proud to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with RFK, Jr. — he’s not perfect; none of us are — but he’s in the fight for the right reasons. He’s fighting for accountability, transparency, and for the health and freedom of the American people, and that’s a team I’m proud to be on.”

Riley McArdle is a contributor for Yellowhammer News. He is a Senior majoring in Political Science at the University of Alabama and currently serves as Chairman of the College Republican Federation of Alabama. You can follow him on X @rileykmcardle.

The State of Alabama recently received a letter from the Trump Administration, mandating the end of all references to gender ideology in federally-funded Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) educational materials. The order must be followed within 60 days and applies to 40 states, five territories, and Washington, D.C.

According to the White House, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through its Administration for Children and Families (ACF), is leading the effort to implement the changes.

Alabama’s letter was addressed directly to its Department of Public Health.

“We are aware that these curricula and other program materials were previously approved by ACF,” read the dispatch. “However, the prior administration erred in allowing PREP grants to be used to teach students gender ideology because that approval exceeded the agency’s authority to administer the program consistent with the authorizing legislation as enacted by Congress.”

“Alabama’s current PREP curricula and program materials are out of compliance with the PREP statute and HHS regulations and must be modified. The purpose of a PREP grant award is for states to “carry out personal responsibility education programs consistent with this subsection.”

State Health Officer Scott Harris has agreed to implement the changes requested and to ‘make sure we’re compliant with whatever we need to be compliant with,’ according to reports.

The ACF could pull $2.1 million in federal funding from the department if updates are not put in place.

“Should Alabama fail to make the appropriate modifications to its PREP curricula and program materials, ACF may take additional enforcement action, including allowing HHS to withhold, disallow, suspend, or terminate Federal awards if imposing additional conditions on a grantee does not cure noncompliance.”

HHS Acting Assistant Secretary Andrew Gradison pledged that ‘accountability is coming.’

“Federal funds will not be used to poison the minds of the next generation or advance dangerous ideological agendas,” said Gradison. “The Trump Administration will ensure that PREP reflects the intent of Congress, not the priorities of the left.”

The 46 recipients of the letters include the following states and territories:

States:
Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming.

Territories and D.C.:
Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Washington D.C.

Alabama must also provide a copy of the modified materials to ACF for approval by the end of 60 day period.

Austen Shipley is the News Director for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @ShipleyAusten

U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt discussed the need to improve public health systems and the overall well-being of Americans with Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, at a committee hearing on Wednesday.

The Congressman noted that a massive amount of funding is poured into health care nationally.

“Despite spending nearly $2 trillion annually on health care, America continues to face unacceptable health outcomes,” said Aderholt. “We need bold, innovative approaches—not simply more spending—to truly improve the health of our citizens. I’m encouraged by Secretary Kennedy’s willingness to bring fresh perspectives and reforms to HHS.”

He pointed to the falling level of health care in rural areas across the country as a major reason to implement reform.

“The health care challenges in rural America are urgent and deeply personal for the communities we serve. I’m committed to working with Secretary Kennedy to find practical, life-affirming solutions to protect access to care and support our rural hospitals and providers.”

Aderholt, while speaking about CDC-funded abortion-related activities under the Biden Administration, referenced the Secretary’s pledge to “respect the sanctity of life.”

“As a strong supporter of the right to life, I appreciate Secretary Kennedy’s pledge to uphold these fundamental values,” he said.

In closing, the lawmaker reaffirmed his commitment to the American people and working towards solutions that will benefit their well-being.

“Reforming Washington is never easy,” Aderholt stated, “but we in Congress stand ready to work with the Secretary and the Administration to deliver lasting, meaningful improvements to our health care system.”

Austen Shipley is the News Director for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @ShipleyAusten

President Donald Trump has nominated Mountain Brook resident and prominent Alabama urologist to be the next Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Should he be confirmed, Dr. Brian Christine will be responsible for developing a variety of policy recommendations relating to national public health issues under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

The Alabama Republican Party congratulated Christine on the nomination and called him a “steadfast advocate for strong, patient-centered healthcare policies.”

https://x.com/ALGOP/status/1904634088226435448

Christine earned his MD degree from Emory University and completed his medical residency in Urology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Following residency, he joined a large private practice urology group, Urology Centers of Alabama.

Christine is also a former candidate for the Alabama Legislature. In the 2022 Republican Party primary, he earned 41% of the votes in a head-to-head race with now-State Sen. Dan Roberts (R-Mountain Brook). In 2023, he ran for Jefferson County Commission, but ultimately withdrew from the race to endorse Republican Mike Bolin.

His brother is a former U.S. Attorney appointed by President Trump.

U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville recently helped to launch the ‘Make America Healthy Again’ caucus. The group will work alongside the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to promote nutrient-rich foods, minimize chronic diseases, prioritize regenerative agriculture, and improve health care.

To lead the agency, President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who according to multiple reports, has enough votes to be confirmed. Should he get the job, RFK Jr. will be working directly with Tuberville.

The Senator has spoken with the nominee about the push to ensure a better quality of life for all of America.

“Earlier this week, I met with RFK Jr., President Trump’s nominee to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,” Tuberville said. “Like I told him, I’ve heard from young people across the country who are inspired by his message to Make America Healthy Again. During our meeting, Bobby and I had a great discussion about ways to make our food and healthcare system better. As a founding member of the Senate Make America Healthy Again Caucus, I look forward to working with my friend Senator Roger Marshall and our colleagues to make sure our food is safe, bring transparency to vaccines and health care, and Make America Healthy Again.”

In his push to ensure food safety, Tuberville (R-Auburn) has also worked to warn of the dangers of dyes found in foods.

There are two dyes in particular that Tuberville is concerned about. The first is Red 3.

“Red 3 has been known to cause cancer in cosmetics, but we still allow it to be put in our food,” Tuberville said in a recent hearing with FDA leadership.  “I don’t understand that. If we know something is deadly for anybody that ingests it, how do we continue to just study that and not say enough’s enough?”

Red No. 3 has been found to cause thyroid cancer in laboratory animals. The FDA banned its use in cosmetics and topical drugs in 1990 but still allows it in foods. Other countries have gone a step further in limiting the substance. The European Union, Australia, and New Zealand have each banned the use of Red 3 in all products. Red 40, another red dye variant, has been studied with researchers observing that its extended use in mice caused gut issues and raised the risk of inflammatory bowel disease.

On Sunday, Tuberville took the New York Times to task for an outlandish ‘fact check’ tweet regarding the subject of food dyes.

https://x.com/SenTuberville/status/1875963466676339013

Low-income families across Alabama will have extra assistance this winter and upcoming summer in paying their home energy costs.

In a statement on Friday, Governor Kay Ivey announced that she is awarding nearly $44.5 million to 18 community agencies throughout the state who will be responsible for dispensing the funding to families in need.

“Unfortunately, there are times when some Alabama families must decide between paying utility costs and other essential expenses like buying medicine and groceries,” Ivey said. “I am pleased to award these funds to provide temporary assistance to keep families from having to make decisions that could jeopardize their health and welfare, particularly during the winter and summer months.”

The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs ADECA) is administering the grants from funds made available by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Director of ADECA Kenneth Boswell also emphasized the significance of the annual funding.

“Each year this program aids numerous Alabamians who find themselves in a position requiring temporary assistance, and the need is always great,” said Boswell. “ADECA joins Gov. Ivey in support of these funds that will help those most in need.”

Below, and listed in geographic region from north to south, is a list of each grant, the recipient agency, the counties they serve, and the agency contact information. Please note that the funding allocations announced today may not be immediately available for application at the local level. Application periods are determined locally by each community agency.

• Community Action Agency of Northwest Alabama Inc.: $1.55 million. (Colbert, Franklin, Lauderdale) 256-764-5142, caanw.org.
• Community Action Partnership of Huntsville/Madison and Limestone Counties Inc.: $3 million. (Limestone, Madison) 256-907-1550, caa-htsval.org.
• Community Action Agency of Northeast Alabama Inc.: $9.3 million. (Blount, Cherokee, DeKalb, Jackson, Jefferson, Marshall, St. Clair) 256-638-4430, caaneal.org.
• Community Action Partnership of North Alabama Inc.: $2.5 million. (Cullman, Lawrence, Marion, Morgan, Winston) 256-355-7843, capna.org.
• Walker County Community Action Agency Inc.: $587,811. (Walker) 205-221-4010, caawalker.org.
• Community Action of Etowah County Inc.: $1 million. (Etowah) 256-546-9271, communityaction-etowah.org.
• Community Action Agency of Talladega, Clay, Randolph, Calhoun and Cleburne Counties:  $2.4 million. (Calhoun, Clay, Cleburne, Randolph, Talladega) 256-352-6611, communityactiontcrcc.com.
• Community Service Programs of West Alabama Inc.: $4 million. (Bibb, Choctaw, Dallas, Fayette, Greene, Hale, Lamar, Perry, Sumter, Tuscaloosa) 205-752-5429, cspwal.com.
• Pickens County Community Action Committee and Community Development Corp. Inc.: $223,109. (Pickens) 205-367-8166, caapickens.org.
• Community Action Committee Inc. of Chambers-Tallapoosa-Coosa: $884,306. (Chambers, Coosa, Tallapoosa) 256-825-4287, cacctc.com.
• Community Action Partnership of Middle Alabama Inc.: $2.2 million. (Autauga, Chilton, Elmore, Shelby) 205-755-1204, capmal.org.
• Montgomery Community Action Committee and Community Development Corp. Inc.: $2.2 million. (Montgomery) 334-263-3474, mcacinc.org.
• Alabama Council on Human Relations Inc.: $1.45 million (Lee) 334-821-8336, achr.com.
• Macon-Russell Community Action Agency Inc.: $1 million. (Macon, Russell) 334-727-6100, mrcaa.org.
• Organized Community Action Program Inc.: $2.1 million. (Bullock, Butler, Covington, Crenshaw, Dale, Lowndes, Pike) 334-566-1712, ocaptroy.com.
• Southeast Alabama Community Action Partnership Inc.: $2.25 million. (Barbour, Coffee, Geneva, Henry, Houston) 334-347-0881, southeastalabamacommunityactionpartnership.org.
• Community Action Agency of South Alabama: $3.1 million. (Baldwin, Clarke, Conecuh, Escambia, Marengo, Monroe, Wilcox) 251-626-2646, caaofsa.org.
• Mobile Community Action Inc.: $4.45 million. (Mobile, Washington) 251-457-5700, mcamobile.org.

In October, Ivey awarded an additional $1 million in federal funds to support the LIHEAP program.

Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @ShipleyAusten

Fifteen states are suing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services after the agency created a new rule that would alter the Affordable Care Act’s ban on discrimination based upon sex to also include “gender identity.”

The policy would would force medical providers to perform surgeries and administer hormone drugs to both children and adults for the purpose of gender transition without taking into account the guidance of doctors.

Additionally, medical providers must allow patients into sex-segregated spaces, such as parts of a hospital reserved only for omen patients, on the basis of their gender identity rather than their biological sex. Healthcare workers would be required to use gender-affirming pronouns and would face punishment if they use biologically accurate pronouns.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall announced his office joined the lawsuit to block the new rule from going into effect.

RELATED: Alabama AG files lawsuit to block Biden’s proposed radical gender policies in schools across America

“Despite repeated failed attempts, Biden’s Administration continues to illegally mandate that medical providers provide gender-transition procedures or face harsh penalties. Alabama and our coalition partners will not stand for this radical and unconstitutional behavior,” said Marshall.

“In healthcare of all places, the reality of biological sex matters. The need to protect vulnerable children from sterilizing transitioning procedures matters.”

“Of all the Biden Administration’s misguided efforts, its campaign to replace biological sex with radical gender-identity theory may be the most pernicious because it is so obviously harmful and so obviously untrue.”

Marshall said the new rule could have a major impact on Alabama, which currently restricts the provision of gender-transition interventions of minors and prohibits the use of public funds to pay for these procedures.

Covered entities found non-compliant with the new mandate risk the loss of significant federal funding—including the loss of billions of dollars in state Medicaid funding designed to assist low-income individuals—and exposure to civil liability through private lawsuits.

In 2016, President Obama tried to implement an almost identical proposal. It was eventually struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Alabama was joined in the lawsuit by Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @ShipleyAusten

U.S. Sen. Katie Britt (R-Montgomery) slammed the Biden Administration Tuesday for openly trying to work against Hyde Amendment and use taxpayer funds for abortions.

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra recently testified in front of the U.S. Senate about funding requests for healthcare. Britt questioned Becerra about the administration’s pro-abortion stances.

The Biden Administration has made it clear: they have no red line when it comes to taking the life of an unborn child.

And now—they’re admitting they want hard-earned taxpayer dollars to fund abortion. I won’t stop fighting to preserve the Hyde Amendment.pic.twitter.com/KjySWgfeFN

— Senator Katie Boyd Britt (@SenKatieBritt) April 16, 2024

“[Y]our answer kept being ‘Roe v. Wade’ and ‘Roe v. Wade,’ and ‘I want that to be the law of the land.’ So, let’s just stipulate that your hypothetical is the truth,” Britt said. “If Roe v. Wade were the law of the land and a woman wanted to take the life of her child the day before her child was due, or the day after her child was due, then you support her ability to choose to do that. Is that correct?”

After Becerra didn’t answer the question directly, Britt pressed even further.

“No. I’ve stipulated: Roe v Wade is part is law of the land,” she said. “So, there’s seven states in this country and the District of Columbia that allow you to take the life of a child the moment before a child is born. So clearly you support a woman’s right to choose to do that.”

RELATED: Britt, Tuberville join ‘No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act’

Becerra then responded that Britt’s example was “fiction,” which cause the senator to push back.

“If it actually is fiction, then why not say no? That, that’s out of the realm of possibility, that no woman would think to be able to do that,” Britt said. “Because the truth is, if you say that taxpayer dollars should go to fund abortions, then you’re saying that my taxpayer dollars should go to fund something like that. And if that’s unthinkable, then why don’t you just say it’s unthinkable?

“And in fact, then we can just take it off the table and not allow that to be legal,” she added. “Because the truth is, when you do that…I’m going to read this to you. ‘In particular, when these abortions occur, the gruesome surgical techniques involve crushing, dismembering, and removal of the fetal body.’

“So they actually deliver the baby breach and then have to put scissors up the baby’s neck, open it up, and then suck out the brain, so that they’re able to get the head through the birth canal. Then there’s also the opportunity to go in and actually put a needle in that child’s heart and kill that child if that child is then delivered alive. Do you believe that that child on that table, that we should be able to save that child? Or do you believe that our taxpayer dollars give this woman the right to say, don’t save my child?”

The senator then emphasized the she will always work to preserve the Hyde Amendment.

“I just think when we’re talking about this and you’re saying so boldly ‘no – taxpayer dollars go (to fund abortions)’, and you actually won’t answer the question when it comes to Roe v Wade, and I’m saying, I’ll stipulate that your hypothetical is the case,” she said. “There are still seven states in this country and the District of Columbia that allow us to do that. We’re one of like seven nations that allow that to take place on our soil. Two of the other nations are North Korea and China. And I just believe when we’re talking about budgets, I want you to know where I’m coming from and why I believe wholeheartedly, with every ounce of me, that we have to preserve the Hyde Amendment.”

Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on Twitter @Yaffee

Samford University’s Moffett and Sanders School of Nursing was recently awarded $2.6 million to train primary care nurse practitioner students. After graduation, some students will go on to serve in rural and medically underserved areas.

The grant is being provided by the Advanced Nursing Education Workforce (ANEW) program through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration.

“The ANEW project provides an opportunity for students from disadvantaged backgrounds to address and manage Social Determinants of Health factors and improve health equity and literacy in medically underserved areas and populations,” said Melondie Carter, dean of the Moffett and Sanders School of Nursing.

Stephanie Wynn, the nursing school’s associate dean of scholarly activities and grant project director, said that the money will eventually lead to an increase of quality healthcare in medically underserved areas throughout the state.

“For nearly a decade, the school of nursing has recognized that a major primary care provider shortage is on the horizon,” said Wynn. “With the aid of the ANEW award, graduates of our program will be well-positioned to improve access to quality healthcare, especially for patients and families in rural and underserved communities where health inequities are common.”

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports the demand for primary care services has increased significantly due to a growing and aging population, resulting in a shortage of 37,000 to 124,000 primary care providers by 2034.

Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News.

Attorney General Steve Marshall on Tuesday filed suit against the Biden administration to block its recently issued Head Start mandates requiring mask-wearing for pupils and COVID-19 vaccination for staff.

The administration’s mandate requires all Head Start personnel to wear face masks at all times and to be fully vaccinated by the end of January. The rule also forces students ages two years and older to wear face coverings.

According to the attorney general’s office, the Alabama Department of Human Resources and the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education, as well as the state’s Head Start teachers, staff, volunteers and students would be affected by the mandate.

Marshall’s office advised that federal funding could be at risk for pre-school entities that are found to be in violation of the mandate.

The State of Alabama’s lawsuit contends that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) holds no legal authority to issue such a mandate. Additionally, the lawsuit argues that the rule stands in conflict with Alabama’s vaccine passport ban due to it forcing state government entities to enforce the mandate.

In announcing the lawsuit, Marshall asserted that the state would continue to combat the federal government’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

“The Biden administration clearly has no plans to back down from its errant pursuit of nationwide vaccination,” declared Marshall. “Likewise, the State of Alabama has no plans to back down from its righteous pursuit of nationwide injunctions.”

The attorney general suggested that children residing in rural areas could be placed in jeopardy of losing pre-school access should centers lose federal funding due to noncompliance.

“The victims of these mandates will not be ‘the unvaccinated,’ as President Biden would like you to believe. Rather, the harm will be felt by the rural pre-school children who will be left with no place to go if their centers are shut down,” he added. “A program that the federal government created is at risk of being destroyed by those who claim to care most about its participants.”

The lawsuit, filed in the Western District of Louisiana, is led by Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry.

Marshall accompanied the attorneys general of Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming in filing the lawsuit.

Dylan Smith is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSmithAL

U.S. Reps. Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) and Barry Moore (R-Enterprise) on Thursday penned a letter to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra requesting clarity on the department’s move to alter the ordering process of monoclonal antibody treatments.

HHS recently implemented a change in how health care providers may obtain the antibody treatment by forcing states to go through HHS to order the drug, rather than providers ordering from distributors directly.

Numerous elected officials and public health experts have questioned the HHS move, fearing it would cause supply shortages of what many see as a life-saving treatment in the fight against COVID-19.

Members of Alabama’s congressional delegation have joined U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) in directly confronting HHS regarding its changes to how health care providers are allowed to order the drug.

In the letter authored by Brooks and Moore, the congressmen contend that move was “done rapidly and with inadequate national input from states or other health care providers” further stating that it caught providers “off guard,” particularly in rural areas.

The congressmen say that the move appears to have caused the state of Alabama to “experience a significant drop in the amount of mAb (monoclonal antibody) dose availability.” Brooks and Moore go on to request that HHS clarify how the new allocation formula will effect dosage supply in the state.

U.S. Reps. Gary Palmer (R-Hoover) and Mike Rogers (R-Saks) cosigned the letter along with their fellow Alabama Republican colleagues.

Brooks cited a University of Alabama in Birmingham (UAB) study, which found the treatment to be effective in reducing hospitalization rates among those infected with the deadly virus.

“According to University of Alabama in Birmingham researchers, monoclonal antibody therapy reduces risk of hospitalization by 70% in high-risk unvaccinated persons,” stated Brooks. “But, the Biden Administration is throttling Alabama’s supply of mAb treatments according to the Alabama Department of Public Health. The signers of this letter want answers from the Biden Administration about why they’re reducing the number of lifesaving treatments available to Alabamians.”

Moore slammed HHS for the move, saying the department adding “red tape” to the process as the state is experiencing a surge in the Delta variant is “inexcusable.”

“This allocation change to the supply of monoclonals in the midst of a public health emergency delayed potentially life-saving treatments to many Alabamians,” said Moore. ”The federal government implemented this change at a time when many Alabama hospitals were in the midst of a crisis from a rise in the delta variant. Adding even more government red tape to our hospitals at a time like this is inexcusable. This administration needs to stop playing politics when there are lives at stake.”

Dylan Smith is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSmithAL

U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), during a Thursday Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) meeting, questioned Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra about the department limiting access to monoclonal antibody treatments.

When HHS announced that it would be rationing the treatment, the decision was met with fierce criticism from elected officials and the medical community. Many health care professionals fear as if the department’s move could lead to a shortage in the drug’s supply chain.

During the committee hearing, Tuberville pressed the HHS head on his decision to implement its restrictive policy.

Becerra responded by pointing to the amount of doses the state was ordering as a reason to justify the move.

“We have seen a tremendous increase in the demand for these monoclonal antibodies,” said Becerra. “Let me give you an example: In your state of Alabama, in July, your state ordered, all those providers ordered a total of 6,800 doses. In August, your state ordered over 45,00 doses. In less than two months it went up that quickly. Your state wasn’t the only one.”

He added, “The difficulty is that with that immediate surge, trying to meet that demand became complicated. So, what we’ve done is we have surged with that to make sure that we’re manufacturing more.”

Becerra believes that health care providers ordering the treatment through state government is a more efficient form of ensuring access.

“So, what we did is rather than let those therapies be secured on site… we decided to let the states decide how to best coordinate that,” stated Becerra. “So that state would make sure… that every Alabamian would have access to those monoclonal antibodies.”

Tuberville went on to discuss the need for therapeutics given that the vaccine does not prevent people from contracting the deadly virus.

“We’re so fired up about the vaccine, and I am too – I’ve taken it,” said the freshman senator. “It’s not going to keep you from getting it, most of the time – it’s going to keep you from getting real sick, and I think everybody can agree with that. We need to focus more on therapeutics – I don’t think there’s any doubt about it – and testing.”

“I’ve talked a lot of doctors, especially in the school systems,” he added. “We need to be testing almost every day, or every few days, kids before they come. Now, they can have the virus, and if we wait until they get symptoms, they’ve had it for two days, and they’ve already been in school, and it’s been exposed.”

Tuberville stressed the importance of readily available treatments to prevent the mass influx of new COVID-19 cases placing a strain on the state.

“I heard you say about equity, and I continue to hear everybody talk about equity, and I believe in that,” said Tuberville. “But we need to save people’s lives. We can’t shut down Alabama, or some of these other states simply for the fact that we might not be taking as many vaccines. We cannot let people die and especially teachers. You know, we’re telling them to go back to school, and they want to go teach, but we can’t do that.”

He concluded, “So, I would hope that we would not get political with this. Red states, blue states–it shouldn’t be about that. It should be about everybody, if they need it, they get it, and we just need to be more prepared.”

On Thursday, the Alabama Medical Association thanked Tuberville for his efforts to ensure the Yellowhammer State has access to the effective COVID-19 treatment.

“Monoclonal antibody treatment is not a substitute for the COVID-19 vaccine, but it does work to reduce hospitalizations and save lives of those who get COVID,” said Dr. Aruna Arora, president of the Medical Association of the state of Alabama. “That’s why doctors are concerned that the federal government is limiting access.”

“On behalf of all physicians in our state who are working hard to treat and care for suffering COVID patients, we thank Senator Tuberville for his outstanding leadership and concern for the people of Alabama,” she concluded.

Dylan Smith is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSmithAL

Efforts to expand access to an effective COVID-19 treatment have reached the nation’s capital as U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), along with his fellow Republican colleagues, has introduced legislation which would prohibit the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from enacting policies limiting the drug’s supply.

HHS recently announced that it would be limiting access to the drug, claiming that states are over-ordering the life-saving drug. This move was met with immense pushback from the Alabama Medical Association and others, as many fear the department’s move would restrict access and disrupt the drug’s supply chain.

Earlier this month, Tuberville sent a letter to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra demanding answers as to why the Biden administration is rationing treatment access to states which are experiencing high hospitalization rates, many of which are Republican-controlled states.

To combat the HHS move, Tuberville, along with U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Rick Scott (R-FL), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and Mike Braun (R-IN) introduced the “Treatment Restoration for Emergency Antibody Therapeutics (TREAT) Act.”

Alongside restricting HHS from implementing policies disrupting the drug’s supply, the bill would also nullify the Biden administration’s recently-enacted policy which forces hospitals and other health care providers to work through states to receive supplies.

Alabama’s junior senator noted that HHS has failed to respond to his letter demanding answers surrounding the move to limit access to the drug. Tuberville reiterated the fact that red states are seemingly being disproportionately affected by the action.

“We know that monoclonal antibody treatments save lives so it is beyond me why the Biden administration has taken it into their own hands to throttle the supply of this lifesaving treatment,” Tuberville said. “I have yet to receive any answers to my questions for HHS about the reasoning behind these new restrictions, which is cause for concern, especially considering predominately Republican states are being impacted.”

The freshman senator pledged to continue his efforts to ensure timely access to the effective COVID-19 therapeutic.

“Across Alabama, medical professionals and folks who got the virus have stressed to me the importance of ensuring this therapeutic is not caught up in partisan politics,” he added. “I will do everything in my power to make sure that doesn’t happen, and those who need the treatment receive it without delay.”

Dylan Smith is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSmithAL

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) earlier this month notified state health agencies that efforts to expand monoclonal antibody therapy locations have been placed on hold, leading many to question the decision which they believe will lead to supply shortages of the life-saving COVID-19 treatment.

Additionally, HHS announced that it was limiting the quantity of the treatment that health care providers can order. The department’s move was met with criticism from the Alabama Medical Association, which claimed that patients have experienced positive reactions from the treatment within 24 to 48 hours upon it being administered.

U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) on Friday penned a letter to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra in which the senator pressed for answers regarding the department’s decision to ration the treatments. Under new guidelines, HHS claims it has the authority to restrict shipments of the life-saving drug to states that it deems are using more than the necessary quantity.

The senator’s office says the department has limited access to largely Republican states, including Alabama. The department maintains that the changes it has implemented have been out of “fairness and equity.”

The gravest concern that Tuberville notes in his letter to the HHS head is that he believes the department to have seemingly acted with political bias in its decision-making process.

“My concern lies not just in the new program HHS has dictated – which will also require state officials to hire additional staff to manage, during an ongoing workforce shortage – but in the sudden manner these changes were announced, and states that have been singled out.”

The letter further expresses the senator’s disapproval of the department’s disruption of the treatment’s supply chain.

“Simply put, I am concerned that by seizing control of this critical supply chain, HHS will exert more power over states by restricting access to these treatments,” Tuberville’s letter reads. “The ability to withhold access is problematic in that it allows unelected bureaucrats at HHS to put undue political pressure on states to comply with whatever additional COVID-related mandates they deem appropriate.”

Alabama’s junior senator touted the statewide effort to combat the spread of the virus and expressed his desire for HHS to end its rationing of the crucial treatment.

“Physicians and health care providers in the state of Alabama remain committed to working together to fight COVID-19 in our communities, just as they have been since the beginning of the pandemic. They simply ask for the unrestricted freedom and ability to continue the fight by using every available tool in the toolbox – and monoclonal antibody drugs remain absolutely critical in that effort,” the letter concludes.

Dylan Smith is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSmithAL

Samford University’s Ida Moffett School of Nursing has received more than $2.1 million to help make graduate nursing education more affordable for currently practicing or teaching nurses committed to careers in nursing education.

Samford’s $2,140,611 Nurse Faculty Loan Program (NFLP) grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration is the largest in the country and one of only three nationally that exceeds $1 million. This is Samford’s 16th year to receive funding for the program.
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Alabama Congressman Mo Brooks has been one of Capitol Hill’s most outspoken critics of the President’s refugee resettlement plan. He says local governments deserve to have more control over those who are placed in their state. Now, he’s signed on to a bill that would grant states the power to approve refugee resettlements.

The Allow State Sovereignty Upon Refugee Entry Act (ASSURE) responds to an Obama Administration order that would allow an additional 110,000 new refugees into the country over the next year. Already, the President has reported that 324,000 have been admitted into the United States throughout the past five years.

Rep. Brooks says the President’s action is costing taxpayers billions each year, and believes Congress must push back.

“Unsurprisingly, this Administration has shunned and disregarded as irrelevant all thought to how its dangerous policies impact local communities, threaten American lives, and drive up our nation’s exploding $19 trillion debt,” Rep. Brooks told Yellowhammer.

Pointing to a study from the Center for Immigration Studies, he says that each refugee from the Middle East will costs American taxpayers $64,370 within the first five years of their resettlement.

“That amounts to 12 times what the UN estimates it would cost to care for one refugee in neighboring Middle Eastern countries,” he added.

More than a being a threat to America’s pocketbook, Rep. Brooks believes refugees could also pose a security risk.

“This Administration has shown a pattern and practice of discriminating against peaceful Christian and other non-Muslim immigrants in favor of unvetted and potentially dangerous Muslim immigrants,” Rep. Brooks said. “Remarkably, so far this year more than 99% of the Syrian refugees admitted to the United States have been unvetted Muslims.”

If passed, the ASSURE Act would require the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to submit a report to each state with detailed information about proposed refugee resettlements, as well as the cost of housing, education, health care, and more.

Teenage pregnancy is something all parents (and most children) want to avoid. No one wants to see their son or daughter on “16 and Pregnant.” But the good news is the rate of teen pregnancies in Alabama and the rest of the country have been decreasing significantly over the past few years.

Pregnancy rates for all women across the nation decreased in response to the 2008 recession, but pregnancy rates for women age 20 and older have started to tick back up while teenage pregnancy (ages 15-19) continues to decline. Teenage pregnancies have dropped continuously for the past two decades, and from 2004 to 2014 the birth rate among teens dropped 40%.

While Alabama’s teenage birth rate continues to decline, there is still a long way to go. The Yellowhammer State has the 10th highest teenage birth rate in the country, 32 births per every 1,000 teenage women in 2014, which is well above the national average of 24.2. New Hampshire has the lowest teenage birth rate with just 11 births per 1,000.

Locally, data from the U.S. Census shows that some Alabama cities are keeping teenage birthrates down better than others. 5.8% of all births statewide from 2010-2014 were born to teen mothers. The Census data split up the state by metropolitan area and shows an incredible range: from 2.0% in Enterprise to 19.0% in Valley.

Alabama does surpass the national average in one statistic: fewer pregnant teens are unwed in the state than in the rest of the country. 82% of pregnant teenagers are not married in Alabama, which is slightly better than the national average of 88%.

Race is another significant factor in teenage pregnancies, especially in Alabama. While teen pregnancies have dropped significantly for all races across the nation, minority teens are still more likely to become pregnant. In Alabama, the pregnancy rate for black teenagers is dropping twice as fast as the rate for white teens. In 2008, 51% of pregnancies for every 1,000 black women were to teens. That number had dropped to 29.4% in 2013, a decrease of 21.6%. In the same time period, the rates for white women dropped from 32.4% to 21.3%, decreasing 11.1%.

A recent study by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Center for Disease Control suggest that the reasons for the decline in teenage pregnancies include fewer teens having sex and an increase in contraceptive use. Over the past 25 years, the number of teenagers having sex has dropped 14% for girls and 22% for boys. Of those that are having sex, 79% of females and 84% of males use some form of contraceptive, usually condoms. The study also found that girls who did not use some kind of contraception were twice as likely to become teen mothers.

Hopefully this trend will continue in Alabama as teens recognize the risks and dangers of pregnancy, the importance of contraceptives, and the long-term implications of having children.

Hundreds of refugees fleeing persecution in the Middle East have resettled in Alabama in recent years, according to government data Yellowhammer pulled Monday.

According to information collected by the Office of Refugee Resettlement, a small division inside the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Alabama has accepted a total of 381 refugees from 14 different countries since 2012. The highest number of refugees have come from Iraq (106), Somalia (93), and Sudan (45).

The process by which individuals receive refugee status is different than the process by which immigrants seek legal residency and citizenship. To enter the United States under refugee status, an individual must prove that if they return to their home country, they will be in danger because of their race, religion, nationality, political ideology or membership in a social group.

But the vetting process can be extremely difficult, and has proven to be porous in other countries. At least one of the terrorists who attacked Paris over the weekend entered France embedded with legitimate Syrian refugees. This revelation has prompted a backlash against refugee resettlement in the United States, including in Alabama where 100 Syrian refugees are currently slated to be housed in Mobile by Catholic Social Services.

For weeks, Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-AL1), who represents Mobile and much of South Alabama in Congress, has sought more information about the screening process Syrian refugees must undergo before being allowed to enter the U.S. He sent a letter to the State Department requesting more information and recently attended a classified briefing about the vetting process. Byrne said the information he has seen reaffirmed his belief that the screenings are not strong enough to adequately protect the American people.

Byrne sent a letter to President Obama Monday morning demanding he stop the refugee resettlement program. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) followed up by proposing legislative language that would revoke funding for Syrian refugee resettlement across the country.

Both moves came on the heels of Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley announcing that his administration will refuse Syrian refugees slated to be relocated to Alabama in the coming weeks.

But the number of Middle Eastern refugees already in Alabama has prompted security concerns among both state and federal law enforcement officials. Although there has not been any credible intelligence indicating that Alabama is or has been the target of any terrorist threats, FBI director James Comey warned earlier this year that ISIS and other Islamic radicals have created a “chaotic spider web” of potential operatives in every state, including Alabama.

“Those people exist in every state,” Comey told the National Association of Attorneys General in February. “I have homegrown violent extremist investigations in every single state. Until a few weeks ago there was 49 states. Alaska had none which I couldn’t quite figure out. But Alaska has now joined the group so we have investigations of people in various stages of radicalizing in all 50 states.”

A map showing the countries of origin for refugees who have been re-located to Alabama in recent years can be found below: