While former President Donald Trump personally appointed half of the U.S. Supreme Court judges who issued a ruling that puts in vitro fertilization at risk, he now says that he plans to protect it and have it paid for, either by insurance or the government.
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“We are going to be, under the Trump administration, we are going to be paying for that treatment,” he said in a Thursday interview with NBC News, adding that: “We’re going to be mandating that the insurance company pay.”
What is IVF?
Millions of Americans deal with infertility at some point in their life, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In vitro fertilization (IVF) is a complex series of procedures that can help people with infertility have children, per the Mayo Clinic. It involves collecting eggs from ovaries and fertilizing them with sperm in a laboratory. Then, those embryos are placed in a uterus.
As of 2021, the HHS said 2.3% of all babies born in the U.S. were conceived through assisted reproductive technology procedures such as IVF. In 2022 that increased to 2.5%, according to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.
Is IVF in jeopardy?
In 2022, the conservative-leaning Supreme Court issued the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health ruling which overturned Roe v. Wade abortion protections. Although it wasn’t specifically about IVF, many were concerned that the decision would negatively impact those seeking the procedures.
“Limitations to IVF may become an unintended consequence to the Dobbs decision, making IVF less efficient, more costly and unsafe, and inevitably limiting access to care,” said a study published last year in the Current Opinion in Obstetrics and Gynecology journal. “It is therefore crucial that public health legislation be rooted in science and not dictated by religion or politics. Physicians must act alongside legislators to protect reproductive freedom and access to care.”
The American Society for Reproductive Medicine said the ruling would have a “problematic or concerning at best,” impact on assisted reproductive technology.
“Generally, when individuals undertake IVF, a number of embryos are created either through using the participant’s own genetic material, or donor material. A number of embryos are created and often are implanted simultaneously, and the hope is that at least one of them will ‘take’ and sustain a healthy pregnancy going forward,” explained Frederick I. and Grace Stokes Professor of Law Melissa Murray, per an interview with NYU Law. “But sometimes, more than one actually takes, and there is a decision to make. If a healthy pregnancy cannot be sustained with multiple embryos, then the selective reduction of embryos is usually advised – and that is an abortion.”
Indeed, there have already been issues with IVF due to Dobbs. This year, Audacy reported on an Alabama Supreme Court ruling that said frozen embryos created through in vitro fertilization are considered children, and it halted access to IVF since the court decided people can be held legally responsible for destroying these embryos. Results from an Axios/Ipsos poll indicated that two-thirds of Americans opposed the ruling.
Trump’s plan
“Trump’s stance on IVF is the latest instance of his addressing criticism of his presidential administration through 2024 campaign policy proposals,” said NBC News of the GOP presidential candidate. It added that: “Now, as he and other Republicans face criticism for supporting the Supreme Court justices who struck down Roe, Trump is proposing to protect IVF and address its costs.”
Even though Trump appointed three of the justices who voted in favor of overturning abortion protections, he has an inconsistent history on the issue, the outlet noted. For example, he celebrated the court decision, but has also criticized the abortion laws put in place in his home state of Florida, calling them “too harsh.”
When he was asked to clarify whether the government or insurance companies would pay for IVF services Trump told NBC News that one option would be to have insurance companies pay under a mandate. His running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) has also said in interviews that Republicans support pro-family reproductive healthcare.
“Currently, few people have insurance plans that cover fertility treatments like IVF, leaving many couples to pay out of pocket for the treatment’s high costs,” NBC said. “The Department of Health and Human Services estimates the cost per patient for one cycle of IVF at $20,000.”
However, the outlet said a growing number of employers have started to to offer fertility benefits.
In response to Trump’s IVF comments, the campaign for Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, said this: “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. 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.”
In a Thursday X post, Harris also said this: “More than one in three women in our nation live in a state with an abortion ban. This is a health care crisis. We will never stop fighting to protect reproductive freedom.
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