WATERTOWN, Wis. — Former President Donald Trump announced a new IVF policy during a tour of the Midwest Thursday night, telling a packed audience at a town hall in La Crosse, Wis., that “your government” would cover the costs of IVF treatment or require insurance companies to pay.
“We want people to have babies,” Trump said to cheers from the audience.
His comments came after former Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (I-Hawaii), who was moderating the town hall, shared her moving story of her own failed IVF treatments while in Congress.
“I know that in this crowd watching this show tonight there are women and couples who are going through the same struggles,” Tursi told the western Wisconsin crowd.
Rep. Derrick Van Alden (R-Wis.) is defending his seat on Wisconsin's western border against Democratic challenger Rebecca Cook.
“The Republican Party is the party of family,” Van Alden told The Washington Post after Trump's rally, in response to a question about how Trump's newly announced policies would affect Wisconsin's election.
“Do I have all the answers about IVF? Because there are a lot of embryos that are fertilized. Frankly, I don't have the answers about what to do with them,” Van Orden acknowledged, referring to the surplus embryos sometimes created during the laboratory fertilization process, which has become a hot topic among pro-life voters.
“Anyone who wants to have children should have access to this technology. So I fully support it. President Trump fully supports it.”
Van Alden disputed reports that Trump has changed his position on the controversial issue.
Democrats, including Harris, have aggressively campaigned on reproductive rights in the battleground state of Wisconsin, highlighting exemptions for IVF and abortion.
When asked about President Trump's position on abortion, Van Orden shifted the topic to the Democratic Party's position, saying, “We really need to understand that the Democrats have taken the most extreme position on taxpayer-funded abortion for any reason prenatally, including sex selection, and even if the child survives the abortion attempt. And that's frightening.”
Both Trump and Van Alden support exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother.
“I can't imagine being in that position, and I want to live in a world where no mother ever feels they have to abort her child,” Van Alden told The Washington Post about exceptions to the abortion ban.
“If there's a medical emergency because of the pregnancy, that's a medical procedure.”
Rebecca Cook, a former political fundraiser and strategist who won the Democratic primary in August, will face off against Van Alden in November.
Democrats are pouring millions of dollars into the race to unseat Van Alden, a former Navy SEAL, but the Cook Political Report rates Van Alden's House race as favored by the Republicans.
