Donald Trump’s presidential campaign told NBC News on Wednesday that if the former president were re-elected, his administration would support “universal access” to in vitro fertilization, potentially opening the door for same-sex couples to get coverage for the expensive fertility treatment. treatment.
“President Trump has long been consistent in supporting states’ rights to make abortion decisions and has made it very clear that he will NOT sign a federal ban once he returns to the White House. President Trump also supports universal access to contraception and IVF,” campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
The Republican presidential candidate told NBC News last month that if re-elected in November, his administration would ensure that the government or insurance companies cover the cost of IVF “for all Americans who want it, all Americans who need it.”
“Under the Trump administration, we are going to pay for that treatment,” Trump said, adding, “We are going to demand that the insurance company pay.”
His campaign’s statement Wednesday came in response to a follow-up question about whether this included access for same-sex couples.
Leavitt added: “On the contrary, Kamala Harris and the Democrats are radically out of touch with the majority of Americans in supporting abortion up to birth and forcing taxpayers to fund it.”
The Trump campaign did not respond to an additional email asking whether Trump would support the administration paying for or mandating that insurance companies cover IVF for same-sex couples.
Since Trump made his IVF announcement last month, there has been little follow-up from his campaign, and officials have provided no details on how he would make it happen. A person close to his campaign and familiar with the strategy said Trump’s comments were “unexpected,” surprising even many of his advisers. Likewise, his Republican allies in Congress said they were surprised by the policy, with some saying they outright opposed it.
When asked about Trump’s IVF comments and the campaign’s claim that Democrats support “abortion up to birth,” Kevin Munoz, a spokesman for the Harris-Walz campaign, said: “Donald Trump’s own platform – publicly listed on its website – could effectively ban IVF. . As president, he appointed an anti-IVF extremist to federal court, proposed a rule that would allow health care professionals to deny IVF to LGBTQ couples, and hosted the Alabama judge who banned IVF at the White House .’
Munoz added: “Trump lies as much, if not more, than he breathes, but voters are not stupid. There is only one candidate in this race who will protect America’s freedoms to make our own health care decisions: Vice President Kamala Harris.”
Munoz did not address the Trump campaign’s abortion claims. (According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, less than 1% of all abortions occur after 21 weeks of pregnancy.)
Trump’s vice presidential pick, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, voted against Democratic legislation to protect IVF in June. Vance campaigned last week and missed a Senate vote on the same bill.
In January 2021, the Department of Health and Human Services under the Trump administration finalized a rule that ended discrimination protections for LGBTQ people, opening the door for taxpayer-funded adoption agencies to ban same-sex couples from adopting . The Biden administration later reversed the rule.
Many of Trump’s campaign promises regarding LGBTQ issues target transgender people. During his campaign, he pledged to abolish gender-affirming care for transgender minors — which he equated with “child abuse” and “child sexual mutilation” — and to roll back Title IX protections for transgender students “on day one” if he is re-elected. .
Conversely, the former president rarely mentions gay, lesbian and bisexual Americans in his stump speeches.
Only seven states — including Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey and New York — require IVF benefits for same-sex couples, according to a report from the nonprofit news website 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.
In May, a gay couple filed a first-of-its-kind class action lawsuit against New York City, claiming the city’s health insurance plan is discriminatory because it doesn’t cover IVF for male couples.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
