Debunking Kamala’s outrageous lies about Trump and IVF

THE CLAIM: The Kamala Harris campaign and other Democrats have started claiming that access to IVF will be threatened if Donald Trump wins in November. A recent release from the DNC warned that Trump would “endanger IVF access” nationwide. Michelle Obama claimed during the Democratic National Convention that “Trump wants to take away the freedom to become a mother through IVF like I did.” The Harris campaign account recently posted on X that Trump “could effectively ban IVF.” 

RATING: FALSE

President Trump has never said or indicated he would seek to limit or ban access to IVF. To the contrary, he has voiced support for the treatment and recently proposed mandating that IVF be covered by health insurance plans or paid for by the government. 

The Democrats appear to have incorporated their lines of attack on IVF into their messaging to win over female voters. But is it true? 

Let’s look at the facts when it comes to President Trump and IVF.

In vitro fertilization (IVF) is a fertility treatment involving fertilizing an egg with sperm in a lab to create an embryo, and then transferring the embryo to a woman’s uterus. The treatment has been around for over fifty years and provides couples struggling with infertility or LGBT couples who cannot have a child of their own a pathway to start a family.

The controversy around Trump and IVF first erupted in February, when the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that a frozen embryo is considered a child under state law, which led to some IVF clinics in the state suspending services.

Democrats pounced on the decision. So did President Trump, who quickly came out in opposition to the ruling, saying “I strongly support the availability of IVF for couples who are trying to have a precious little beautiful baby,” and urging lawmakers in the state to “act quickly to find an immediate solution” to ensure continued access to IVF in Alabama.

President Trump again made his support for IVF clear at the Republican National Convention this summer, when his campaign added language into the official 2024 Republican platform that Republicans will support “mothers and policies that advance Prenatal Care, access to birth control, and IVF (fertility treatments).” This was the first time that such language had ever appeared in the national Republican Party platform. 

Most recently, President Trump announced that he would pursue a plan to make IVF treatments covered by insurance companies or paid for by the government, telling NBC that “We are going to be, under the Trump administration, we are going to be paying for that treatment … We’re going to be mandating that the insurance company pay.”

None of President Trump’s statements come remotely close to suggesting he supports banning IVF or limiting its access. To the contrary, he supports mandating universal coverage of IVF treatments. We, thus, rate this claim as completely false.