Donald Trump’s presidential campaign told NBC News on Wednesday that if re-elected, the former president’s administration would support “universal access” to in vitro fertilization, potentially opening the door for same-sex couples to get coverage for expensive fertility treatments. treatment.
“President Trump has long been consistent in his support of states’ rights to make abortion decisions and has made it very clear that he will not sign a federal ban when he returns to the White House. President Trump also supports universal access to contraception and IVF,” campaign press secretary Caroline Leavitt said in a statement.
Republican presidential candidate This was reported by NBC News Last month, if he was re-elected in November, his administration would either have the government or insurance companies pay for IVF “for all Americans who want it, for all Americans who need it.”
“We’re going to be under the Trump administration, we’re going to pay for this treatment,” Trump said, “and we’re going to get the insurance company to pay for it.”
Wednesday’s announcement from his campaign came in response to a follow-up question about whether access should include same-sex couples.
Leavitt added: “In contrast, Kamala Harris and the Democrats are fundamentally out of step with the majority of Americans in supporting pre-birth abortion and forcing taxpayers to fund it.”
The Trump campaign did not respond to a follow-up email asking whether Trump would support forcing the government to pay for or force insurance companies to cover IVF for same-sex couples.
Since Trump’s IVF announcement last month, his campaign has had little follow-up, and officials haven’t given any specifics on how he’ll make it happen. A person close to his campaign and familiar with the strategy described Trump’s comments as “unexpected,” surprising even many of his advisers. Similarly, his Republican allies in Congress said they were baffled by the policy, with some saying they were against it outright.
Harris-Walz campaign spokesman Kevin Munoz responded to a question about Trump’s IVF remarks and the campaign’s claim that Democrats support “prenatal abortion,” saying: “Donald Trump’s own platform — made public on his website — could effectively ban IVF. . As president, he appointed an anti-IVF extremist to the federal bench, proposed a rule allowing medical providers to refuse IVF to LGBTQ couples, and welcomed an Alabama judge who banned IVF to the White House.
Munoz added: “Trump lies as hard as he breathes, but voters are not stupid. There is only one candidate in this race who will protect the freedom of Americans to make our own health care decisions: Vice President Kamala Harris.”
Munoz did not address the Trump campaign’s abortion claims. (Less than 1% of all abortions occur after the 21st week of pregnancy, According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.)
Senator JD Vance of Ohio, Trump’s vice presidential pick voted against Democratic legislation in June To protect IVF. Vance was campaigning last week and did not vote in the Senate for the same bill.
In January 2021, the Department of Health and Human Services under the Trump administration concluded the rule It ended anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people, opening the door for taxpayer-funded adoption agencies to be barred from adopting same-sex couples. Then the Biden administration changed the rule.
Many of Trump’s campaign promises on LGBTQ issues have focused on transgender people. On the campaign trail, he he swore Repeal gender-affirming care for transgender minors — which he equated with “child abuse” and “child sexual mutilation” — and withdraw Title IX protections for transgender students “on day one” if reelected.
In contrast, the former president rarely mentions gay, lesbian and bisexual Americans in his stump speeches.
Only seven states require IVF benefits to include same-sex couples, including Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey and New York. A report from the nonprofit news site Stateline. However, few insurance companies cover the full cost of fertility treatments, including IVF, which costs about $20,000 per cycle. According to the Department of Health and Human Services.
Gay couple in May filed a first class action He argued that New York City’s health insurance plan was discriminatory because it did not cover IVF for male couples.