By Matt Lavietes —NBC News
Former President Donald Trump’s campaign team told NBC News on Wednesday that if he is re-elected, his administration would support “universal access” to in vitro fertilization (IVF), potentially opening the door for couples in the same sex can receive coverage for expensive fertility treatment.
“President Trump has long been consistent in supporting the states’ right to make decisions about abortion and has been very clear that he will NOT sign a federal ban when he returns to the White House. “President Trump also supports universal access to contraceptives and IVF,” campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
The Republican presidential candidate also told NBC News last month that if re-elected in November, his Administration would have the government, or insurance companies, cover the cost of in vitro fertilization “for every American who wants it, everyone.” Americans who need it.”
Embryo selection for in vitro fertilization, light micrograph.Science Photo Library – ZEPHYR / Getty Images
“We are going to pay for that treatment under the Trump Administration,” the former president said, adding: “We are going to order the insurance company to pay.”
His campaign’s Wednesday statement came in response to a follow-up question about whether that included access for same-sex couples.
Leavitt added: “In contrast, Kamala Harris and the Democrats are radically out of touch with the majority of Americans in their support for abortion up to birth and in forcing taxpayers to fund it.”
[No hay abortos “después del nacimiento” ni son comunes a los 9 meses de embarazo, como afirma falsamente Trump]
The Trump campaign did not respond to an additional email asking whether the Republican candidate would support the government paying for or requiring insurance companies to cover IVF for same-sex couples.
Since Trump made his IVF announcement last month, there has been little follow-up from his campaign, and officials have offered no details on how he would implement it. A person close to his campaign who was familiar with the strategy said Trump’s comments were “unexpected,” surprising even many of his advisers. Similarly, his Republican allies in Congress said they were baffled by the policy, and some said they were outright opposed to it.
When asked about Trump’s comments on IVF and the campaign’s claim that Democrats support “abortion up to birth,” Kevin Munoz, a spokesman for Harris-Walz’s campaign, said: “Trump’s own platform Donald Trump, listed publicly on his website, could effectively ban IVF. As president, he appointed an anti-IVF extremist to the federal court, proposed a rule to allow health care workers to deny IVF to LGBTQ couples, and welcomed the Alabama judge who banned IVF to the White House.”
Munoz added: “Trump lies as much or more than he breathes, but voters are not stupid. “There is only one candidate in this race who will protect Americans’ freedoms to make our own health care decisions: Vice President Kamala Harris.”
Munoz did not address the Trump campaign’s claims about abortion (according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, less than 1% of all abortions occur after 21 weeks of pregnancy).
Furthermore, alleged abortions after birth do not exist, as Noticias Telemundo has previously reported. That constitutes infanticide. No state has passed a law allowing a baby to be killed after birth.
Trump’s vice presidential nominee, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, voted in June against Democratic legislation to protect IVF. Vance was campaigning last week and did not participate in a Senate vote on the same bill.
In January 2021, the Trump Administration’s Department of Health and Human Services finalized a rule that ended non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people, opening the door for taxpayer-funded adoption agencies to ban couples. of the same sex adopt. The Biden Administration later revoked the rule.
Many of Trump’s campaign promises regarding LGBTQ issues focus on transgender people. During the election campaign, he promised to abolish gender-affirming care for transgender minors (which he equated to “child abuse” and “child sexual mutilation”) and eliminate Title IX protections for transgender students “from day one” if he is re-elected. .
[¿Harris quiere realizar operaciones de afirmación de género a inmigrantes indocumentados? Lo explicamos]
By contrast, the former president rarely mentions gay, lesbian and bisexual Americans in his campaign speeches.
Only seven states (including Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey and New York) require that the benefits of IVF extend to same-sex couples, according to a report by news website Sin Stateline nonprofit. However, few insurance companies cover the full costs of fertility treatments, including IVF, which costs about $20,000 per cycle, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
In May, a gay couple filed a class-action lawsuit, the first of its kind, against the City of New York alleging that the city’s health insurance plan is discriminatory because it does not cover IVF for male partners.
