At a campaign rally in Michigan on Thursday, former President Trump promised to mandate free IVF treatments for women if re-elected.
“I'm making an important statement today: Under a Trump administration, the government will pay for or insurance companies will be required to cover all costs associated with IVF treatment,” Trump told an audience at Arlo Steele in Potterville, Mich. “Because, to say the least, we want more babies.”
IVF treatments are notoriously expensive – a single treatment can cost tens of thousands of dollars – many women require multiple treatments, and there is no guarantee of success.
“And for that same reason, we're also going to allow parents to deduct the significant expenses of a newborn from their taxes,” Trump said.
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Republican presidential nominee and former president Trump arrives to speak at a campaign event at Arlo Steel, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024, in Potterville, Michigan. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
No details were given, but Republican candidate Trump came under heavy fire from Democrats for his role in appointing Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade and returned abortion to the states.
Trump has attempted to portray himself as a moderate on the issue, even going so far as to declare that he has a “very strong stance on women's reproductive rights.”
Tanks of embryos are displayed in an IVF lab at Boston's Women's Hospital. Trump has vowed that if he is re-elected, the government or insurance companies will pay for IVF treatments. (David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe)
In an interview with NBC ahead of Thursday's rally, President Trump indicated he would support changing Florida's six-week abortion ban, which limits the procedure to many women before they even know they're pregnant.
Trump did not say in the interview how he plans to vote on the measure when it goes on the ballot this fall, but repeated his past criticism that the bill, signed into law last year by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, is too restrictive.
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“I think six weeks is too short. We need more time,” he said. “I'm going to vote that we need more than six weeks.”
President Trump previously called Governor DeSantis' decision to sign the bill a “terrible mistake.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
