Trump declares himself the ‘father of IVF’ at the town hall with an all-female audience

CNN
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Donald Trump on Tuesday declared himself the “father of IVF,” a fertility treatment that has been jeopardized following the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

It’s unclear exactly what the former president meant when he made the comment at a Fox News town hall in battleground Georgia, which was said to focus on women’s issues and had an all-female audience. But he has repeatedly returned to the issue — voicing his support for IVF — on the campaign trail, where he has given a long series of confusing or contradictory answers about his position on abortion.

“We are truly the party for IVF,” Trump told moderator and Fox News host Harris Faulkner. “We want conception, and it is totally, and the Democrats tried to attack us on it, and we are there on IVF, even more than them. So we are fully in favor of it.”

In vitro fertilization, an expensive, decades-old treatment used by millions of parents, became a flashpoint in the nationwide clash over abortion and reproductive rights earlier this year when the Alabama Supreme Court said frozen embryos are children and those who use them destroy, may be held liable for wrongful death.

The Alabama ruling infuriated reproductive rights advocates, who reasoned it would have a chilling effect on IVF, deterring doctors who perform the procedure and driving prices even higher. It also created a political firestorm that ultimately led to the state’s Republican-led Legislature rushing to pass a bill that would grant civil and criminal immunity to health care providers and patients.

Trump and Republicans quickly distanced themselves from the Alabama case, but Democrats, led by Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign, have argued that the ruling offered a preview of the policies Trump might want to implement if he returns to White House.

“Donald Trump called himself ‘the father of IVF.’ What is he talking about?” the vice president posted on social media late Tuesday. “His abortion bans have already threatened access to them in states across the country — and his own platform could end IVF altogether.”

In the wake of the Alabama decision, Trump claimed he would enact a federal policy that would make IVF free. He did not say how he would do that or whether the government or insurers would foot the bill.

Senate Democrats, eager to press the issue ahead of the election, have twice this year introduced a bill that would guarantee access to IVF nationwide — with Republicans voting each time to block the measure. Many of those GOP opponents have said they support IVF but criticized the legislation as needlessly overblown and a political show vote.

During the town hall, Trump also criticized some states for imposing restrictions on abortion that he called “too strict,” saying, without providing any details, that those laws “will be rewritten.”

“The states are now voting (on abortion rights), and frankly, some of them are going much more liberal, like in Ohio,” Trump said.

Faulkner then noted that “some of (the states) are not,” referring to the states that issued or activated bans or restrictions on the procedure after Roe was overturned in 2022 and where those restrictions remain in place.

“And some of it isn’t, but it will be done again,” Trump responded. “It’s going to be renewed. They will, and you will end up with a voice of the people. And some of them, I agree, are too strong, too strong.

Still, Trump again touted his role in appointing Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade and argued that the issue should be left to the states to legislate. He also expressed support for exceptions to the abortion ban in cases of rape, incest and when the mother’s life is in danger.

After previously declining to commit in any way, Trump said earlier this month he would veto a federal abortion ban. His running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, during his vice presidential debate with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, acknowledged the Republican Party’s difficulties in navigating the issue — and suggested his party would push new legislation to help parents to help in need.

“We have to do so much better to regain the trust of the American people on this issue, where, quite frankly, they just don’t trust us,” Vance said.

Two-thirds of Americans oppose the Supreme Court’s decision, according to a Marquette Law School poll conducted this summer.