Trump seeks to shift debate on IVF with pricey proposal

Former President Trump is seeking to shift the conversation about fertility treatment with a promise that his administration would fund in vitro fertilization treatments (IVF), an expensive proposal that goes beyond even most Democratic positions on the issue. 

Trump told NBC News this week, “We are going to be — under the Trump administration, we are going to be paying for that treatment.” 

“So, we’re going to be paying for that treatment, or we’re going to be mandating that the insurance companies pay,” he added. 

Though Republicans haven’t directly opposed IVF access, Democrats say Trump and his party opened the door to an Alabama Supreme Court ruling in February that frozen embryos could be considered the same as children, and therefore discarding them could be criminal. The ruling temporarily halted IVF services for many patients in Alabama.  

Many Republican lawmakers agree that frozen embryos should be considered children, calling into question their avowed support for fertility treatments like IVF that often involve disposing of unused embryos.

The Harris-Walz campaign has hammered the IVF narrative, specifically targeting Trump running mate Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) for past remarks that were seen as insensitive to those struggling with infertility. Harris-Walz campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chitika accused Trump of being disingenuous in his remarks to NBC. 

“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,” Chitika said.  

“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.” 

Harris’s running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), recently faced criticism for some past statements suggesting that he and his wife used IVF to conceive their two children, when they actually used another treatment called IUI, which does not require fertilizing eggs outside of the body. 

But that hasn’t stopped Walz and his wife, Gwen Walz, from using their personal experience with infertility to stay on the attack, telling Republicans to “mind your own damn business.” 

Gwen Walz hit Trump over his IVF pledge during her first solo campaign event in Virginia on Friday.

“So here are the facts and there aren’t any alternatives to these,” she said. “Donald Trump is the one who took down Roe and put access to IVF at risk. That’s a fact. And he’s running on a platform that puts these treatments at risk nationwide, and that’s a fact.” 

“But he knows that position is wildly unpopular and guess what? That’s a fact,” she added. 

However, Republican strategist Shermichael Singleton said the Trump campaign's strategy on IVF is effective. 

"It positions the GOP as not only being pro-life, but being pro-family and pro-helping Americans start families," Singleton told The Hill. "There's nothing more pro-life than wanting to help people struggling to bring life into the world."

Singleton said it "softens" Democrats’ "ability to say the GOP is anti-IVF and wants to control people's ability to have children."  

Republican strategist Matt Gorman, who served as an aide on three presidential campaigns, likened it to 2014 when Republican Senate candidates supported over-the-counter birth control.  

"It's a solid end-around and a way to short circuit some of the attacks," Gorman said, adding that the goal isn't to beat Democrats but "stabilize and chip away at some of the independent crossover." 

However, Republican strategist Susan Del Percio, who does not support Trump, said the campaign is “lost” on the issue. 

“I don’t think he knows what he has really proposed. He’s shooting from the hip. He knows this issue of reproductive rights is huge so he’s doing everything he can to look a little more non-draconian,” she said. 

“He’s losing moderate women hand over fist,” Del Percio said.

“He has no message and not only does he have no message, he can’t find his footing,” she added. “To me it’s shocking that he doesn’t go back to immigration. He’s buying time to find something because he’s got nothing new.”

GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin (Okla.) told reporters he agreed with Trump’s aims of “making sure that we can bring more babies into this world,” though he noted there is an outstanding question over “how you pay for it.”

“I haven't talked to him all the way through it,” Mullin said. 

According to the telehealth platform GoodRx, a single cycle of IVF can cost between $15,000 and $30,000 when accounting for medications and tests. Most couples undergo more than one cycle before having a successful live birth.

Trump’s support for wider IVF access could potentially put him at odds with anti-abortion hard-liners.

IVF often involves the creation of numerous embryos to increase the chances of a successful pregnancy. In many cases unused frozen embryos are disposed of, donated for scientific research or donated to couples unable to produce viable embryos.  

With conservatives seeking to conflate frozen embryos with children, GOP lawmakers have stumbled in trying to reconcile IVF access with their belief that life starts at conception. 

The anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony (SBA) Pro-Life America, which has put its support behind Trump, told The Hill that the former president’s support for IVF didn't contradict its own stance, though it maintained it's against embryos being disposed of. 

“SBA Pro-Life America has no objection to fertility treatments that help couples struggling with infertility in an ethical way, with strong medical safety standards. We believe human embryos should not be destroyed,” SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser said in a statement. 

“All too often, proposals on this issue go too far by giving blanket immunity to IVF clinics — even for rogue practitioners who switch human embryos, fail to follow basic safety standards, or negligently destroy human embryos desired by infertile couples. These are real scenarios for which families in America will have no recourse.” 

Fertility specialists slammed the Alabama ruling earlier this year, saying the disposal of embryos is a standard part of IVF and preventing it could make the procedure too ethically and legally complicated to provide. 

Trump did not comment on the disposal of frozen embryos in his interview with NBC. The Hill has reached out to the Trump-Vance campaign for comment on how it proposes handling unused frozen embryos, and on the cost of Trump's proposal.