Trump Issues Order On IVF
New Executive Order Seeks To Improve Access to IVF
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order aiming to reduce the costs of in vitro fertilization, a fertility treatment sought by those seeking to build their families. The order states that within 90 days, the assistant to the president for domestic policy should submit a list of “policy recommendations on protecting IVF access and aggressively reducing out-of-pocket and health plan costs for IVF treatment.”
The executive order may not come off as a shock to most observers. Trump has pledged on the campaign trail that he would mandate free IVF treatment for women. He called himself the “father of IVF” in a Fox News town hall in October and promised voters that the government would pay for their IVF treatment and require insurance companies to cover it.
In a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, Americans overwhelmingly said access to IVF was a good thing. It is likely that Trump’s support for IVF treatment will be received positively by sections of his conservative base and pro-natalists.
Despite his position on this aspect of women’s reproductive health and rights, Trump’s administration has also enacted several policies aimed at reducing access to abortion.
Trump has supported the decision to overturn the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision, Roe v. Wade, and state-level bills to
jeopardize abortion access. The three judges he appointed to the Supreme Court are also known for their ideological support towards limiting abortion rights.
It should be noted that the order in itself does not make IVF free and accessible. Rather, it is soliciting policy recommendations that would make it so. Furthermore, Senate Republicans voted in June to block a bill put forward by Democrats that would guarantee access to IVF nationwide.
The executive order is the latest in the early stages of the second Trump administration as they have characterized it: “live by executive order, die by executive order.” As Trump continues to grab headlines for his enactments, the American public waits to see the changes in their life unfold