Federal funding for Baltimore's Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program could be safe, following a court win on Wednesday.

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A federal judge has ordered the Department of Health and Human Services to process Baltimore’s application to renew funding for teen pregnancy prevention initiatives, finding the early termination of the five-year grant did not follow agency protocol.

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A federal judge ruled in favor of the city of Baltimore and a national nonprofit based here that aims to reduce teen pregnancy rates, after they sued over cuts to the program’s federal funding.

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The city of Baltimore won a lawsuit against HHS over its federal funding cuts to teen pregnancy prevention programs, city Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen learned Wednesday while speaking at Modern Healthcare's symposium on opioids. 

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The Trump administration was handed another loss Wednesday evening in a case surrounding its abrupt cuts to grants for organizations participating in a federal teen pregnancy prevention program.

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The Trump administration has published its new plan for fighting teen pregnancy and its message to teens is clear: don’t have sex. 

"Why should our communities be asking for another grant when we don’t even know the reason why our grant was terminated?” asked Dr. Leana Wen, the Baltimore City Health Commissioner who is part of the lawsuit against HHS.

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On Oct. 26 last year, President Donald Trump declared the opioid epidemic -- which took more than 64,000 lives in 2016 -- a national emergency.

'“We’ve seen no effect here in Baltimore from the emergency [declaration]," says Leana Wen, the city's health commissioner. "We could save so many more lives if we had more resources. We don’t need any more rhetoric."

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The House heads into a marathon opioid markup Wednesday, a day after the Senate health committee approved bipartisan legislation of its own addressing the crisis. Both chambers are eager to advance bills to combat the crisis under an aggressive timeline, with an eye toward demonstrating action before the midterms on an issue that affects voters representing most demographics and districts.

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The Senate is advancing a legislative package to confront an opioid epidemic that’s killed hundreds of thousands over the past two decades. But as much as the Senate has hyped up the proposal, experts and advocates on the ground are worried that the bill simply doesn’t match the full scale of the crisis. 

“Many of these policies seem to be tinkering around the edges,” Dr. Leana Wen, the health commissioner of Baltimore, previously told me. “It’s not that they’re not helpful in some way,” she added. But what officials on the ground feel they need is “sustained, specific funding” and bolder, more sweeping guidance that will help build up long-term solutions.

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Watch a video of Dr. Wen talking about a bill Mayor Pugh recently signed making the default options for kids' meals water, milk, or 100% juice.