Photo courtesy nbcc.org

MIAMI – A national suicide hotline which for teens and the LGBTQ+ community could be defunded under the new U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ budget, according to news reports.

The President Trump administration is planning to cut funds for the 988-hotline service, which has helped at-risk people contemplating suicide, for the 2025-2026 fiscal year.

Rachel Cauley, a spokesperson for the Office of Management and Budget, told NBC News that the budget “does not … grant taxpayer money to a chat service where children are encouraged to embrace radical gender ideology by ‘counselors’ without consent or knowledge of their parents.”

Congress passed a law in 2020, during Trump’s first term, to set up the suicide prevention hotline under the Suicide Hotline Designation Act following reports that suicide among teens and the LGBTQ+ was on the rise in the nation.

Since 2022, 988 callers could press a menu button or text “Pride” to speak with a dedicated counselor specializing LGBTQ+ issues. According to The Advocate, the LGBTQ+ subnetwork has received over 1.3 million crisis contacts.

The HHS budget cuts are planned to go into effect on October 1.