POTTERVILLE, Mich. — Donald Trump on Thursday said that if elected, his administration would have the government or insurance companies cover the cost of in-vitro fertilization treatments, a contradiction of past comments against the treatment.
“I’m announcing today in a major statement that under the Trump administration, your government will pay for, or your insurance company will be mandated to pay for, all costs associated with IVF treatment,” Trump said at a campaign event in Potterville, Michigan.
“Because we want more babies, to put it very nicely. And for this same reason, we will also allow new parents to deduct major newborn expenses from their taxes, so that parents that have a beautiful baby will be able, so we’re pro family,” Trump continued.
“But the IVF treatments are expensive. It’s very hard for many people to do it and to get it, but I’ve been in favor of IVF, right from the beginning,” Trump added.
Trump did not specify how the treatments would be paid for.
Trump’s comments are a reversal from the Republican Party platform and his past comments where he supported an extreme abortion ban, which threatened access to IVF treatments.
According to the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology, its member clinics performed 389,993 IVF cycles in 2022. At a cost of around $20,000 each.
Trump’s stance on IVF is the latest instance of him addressing criticism of his presidential administration as he previously has bragged that he appointed the Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade.
“Donald Trump’s own platform could effectively ban IVF and abortion nationwide. Trump lies as much if not more than he breathes, but voters aren’t stupid,” Harris campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chitika said in a statement. “Because Trump overturned Roe v. Wade, IVF is already under attack and women’s freedoms have been ripped 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 care decisions: Vice President Kamala Harris.”
