Trump signs executive order to expand access to IVF ‘so American families can have more babies’
President Donald Trump. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to expand access to IVF “so American families can have more babies”.
On Tuesday (18 February), the president signed the order which “directs policy recommendations to protect IVF access and aggressively reduce out-of-pocket and health plan costs for such treatments” including in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and other fertility treatments.
The order also states that it “recognises the importance of family formation and that our Nation’s public policy must make it easier for loving and longing mothers and fathers to have children”.
Among sticking to his promise to ban trans women from women’s sports and targeting LGBTQ+ people in the military in a series of vile executive orders, Trump is also a step closer to his pledge of mandating free IVF treatments.
The White House said in a fact sheet that Trump is “delivering on promises for American families” and “promised to advance IVF and help American families with the associated costs so American families can have more babies, building on his record of supporting family formation and stability”.
In August, Trump said at a Potterville, Michigan rally: “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. Because we want more babies, to put it nicely.”
However, following the 2022 overturning of the landmark law Roe v. Wade – which currently sees 12 states with a total abortion ban and 29 states placing abortion bans based on gestational duration, as per The Guttmacher Institute – some states have since begun to consider whether embryos should have legal rights.
In February 2024, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos have the same legal rights as children. This sparked fear among fertility clinics that IVF providers could face criminal charges if they destroyed an embryo – which is a routine part of the IVF process.
Several fertility clinics in the state stopped providing IVF treatments at the time as a result, leaving LGBTQ+ couples, those with fertility issues, and hopeful single parents “extremely concerned” as their options for creating a family were halted.
In fact, as of September 2024, 17 states in the US have fetal personhood laws, which apply to criminal law or both criminal and civil laws, as per Pregnancy Justice. This could affect future parents reliant on IVF technology to bring children into the world, especially LGBTQ+ families, who disproportionately require assisted reproductive services.
If this story has affected you, connect with RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association through their website and on Instagram or Facebook.
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