(Lansing) Former President Donald Trump has promised that if he wins a second term, he would make in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment free for women, but has not said how he would pay for his plan or how it would work.
Published yesterday at 10:06 p.m.
Joey Cappelletti et Thomas Beaumont
Associated Press
“I am announcing today in a major statement that under the Trump administration, your government will pay — or your insurance company will be required to pay — all costs associated with IVF treatment,” he said at an event in Michigan. “Because we want more babies, to put it politely.”
IVF treatments can cost tens of thousands of dollars for a single session. Many women need multiple sessions and there is no guarantee of success.
The announcement comes as Donald Trump is facing heavy criticism from Democrats for his role in appointing the Supreme Court justices who overturned the ruling. Roe c. Wadeending the constitutional right to abortion in the country.
The move is expected to be a major motivator for Democrats and women this November, and was a major theme of the party’s national convention last week and of Vice President Kamala Harris’ speech when she accepted the presidential ticket.
In response, Mr. Trump has tried to portray himself as more moderate on the issue, going so far as to say he is “very strong on women’s reproductive rights.” In an interview with NBC before the event, Mr. Trump also suggested he would vote to repeal Florida’s six-week abortion ban, which limits the procedure to before many women even know they are pregnant.
Mr. Trump, in the interview, did not explicitly say how he planned to vote on the measure this fall. But he repeated his past criticism that the measure, called Amendment 4 and signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis last year, is too restrictive.
“I think six weeks is too short. We need more time,” he said. “I’m going to vote that we need more than six weeks.”
In his speech, Mr. Trump also said that if he won, families would be able to deduct expenses related to newborn care from their taxes. “We are pro-family,” he reiterated.
Contradictions
Donald Trump has taken many conflicting positions on abortion over the years. After briefly considering supporting a possible nationwide ban on the procedure at 15 weeks, he announced in April that abortion regulation should be left to the states.
Since then, he has repeatedly claimed his role in the cancellation of the ruling Roe and called the move “good to see” as states establish their own restrictions.
The Republican candidate, however, has also said he does not support a national abortion ban, and over the weekend his running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, said he would veto such legislation if it landed on his desk.
Donald Trump first came out in support of IVF in February, after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos can be considered children under state law, briefly halting the treatment and sparking a national backlash.
He has since claimed that the Republican Party is a “leader” on the issue, even though at least 23 bills aimed at establishing fetal personhood have been introduced in 13 states so far this legislative session, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights.
This type of legislation, which affirms that life begins at conception, could jeopardize fertility treatments that involve the storage, transport and destruction of embryos.
Skepticism
In a statement, the Kamala Harris campaign said her opponent should not be believed.
“Trump lies as much, if not more, than he breathes, but voters are not stupid,” said Harris-Walz 2024 spokeswoman Sarafina Chitika.
Because Trump canceled Roe c. WadeIVF is already under attack and women’s freedoms have been stripped away in states across the country. There is only one candidate in this race who trusts women and will protect our freedom to make our own health decisions: Vice President Kamala Harris.
Sarafina Chitika, Harris-Walz Parole Holder 2024
Jessica Mackler, president of EMILYs List, which works to elect women who support abortion rights, called Trump’s proposal “disingenuous and unserious.”
“Kudos to Donald Trump for understanding that his position and record on abortion are deeply unpopular, especially with the women who will decide this election,” she wrote. “But rather than give him credit for a disingenuous and unserious proposition that contradicts his own Republican platform, we will give him credit for something he actually did: cancel Roe c. Wadeending access to abortion for millions of women across the country and jeopardizing reproductive freedom for all of us.”
