MADISON, Wis. — Free In vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment for women has been a talker since former President Donald Trump mentioned the idea during a town hall event in La Crosse last week.
Former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who moderated the event, opened up about her own journey.
“My husband and I were married almost 10 years ago,” Gabbard explained. “We wanted to start a family. We were very excited about it. Unfortunately, it was very difficult. We were not successful in trying to get pregnant. For us, IVF seemed to be the only option and the last resort.”
IVF can cost tens of thousands of dollars with no guarantee of success, and in many cases, women need multiple rounds.
“The government is going to pay for it, or we are going to get or mandate your insurance company to pay for it, which is going to be great,” Trump told the crowd. “We’re going to do that.”
Though Trump was sparse on specifics, the policy position comes as he faces flak from Democrats over his previous appointment of the Supreme Court justices responsible for overturning Roe v. Wade.
IVF involves fertilizing an egg with sperm in a lab before returning the embryo to a woman’s uterus. Since the treatment takes multiple embryos, some may be destroyed.
That’s what concerns Democrats who said Republicans’ support of so-called “fetal personhood,” which would give the same rights as a person to an embryo after fertilization, conflicts with IVF and could make it illegal in some cases.
“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,” Harris-Walz 2024 Spokesperson Sarafina Chitika said in a statement.
However, Trump believes the policy fits his platform with other proposals like no tax on tips or social security benefits.
“It costs a lot of money. A lot of people go into debt just for the hope of being able to start their own family,” Gabbard added.
“Well, it’s big, and you know what? We want to produce babies in this country, right? We want to produce babies,” Trump responded.