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SALT LAKE CITY — Former President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that during a second term he would require the government to pay for — or mandate that insurance companies cover — all in-vitro fertilization treatments.
"Under the Trump administration, your government will pay for, or your insurance company will be mandated to pay for, all costs associated with IVF treatment," Trump said. "We're pro-family. Nobody's ever said that before. But the IVF treatments are very expensive. It's very hard for many people to do it and to get it. But I've been in favor of IVF right from the beginning."
Trump also said he would implement tax deductions for major newborn expenses. "Because we want more babies, to put it very nicely."
In an interview on Thursday with NBC News, Trump said as a federal government, "We will be paying for that treatment for all Americans that get it ... or we'll be mandating that the insurance company pay."
Trump proposed the new policies without details on implementation during a campaign rally in Michigan. Democrats have accused Republicans of wanting to ban IVF after an Alabama court ruling in February temporarily paused IVF treatments in the state, and after Senate Republicans rejected a bill in June that would have codified the right to IVF.
With his latest announcement, Trump is attempting to remove IVF access as an attack line for his opponents. Trump has also distanced himself from conservative policies that restrict elective abortions.
On Saturday, Trump's running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, told NBC News that Trump "explicitly" said he would veto a national abortion ban if Congress passed it. On Thursday, Trump reiterated his previous comments that he thought Florida's ban on abortions after six weeks was "too short" and said he would vote to overturn the law in the state's November ballot initiative.
Following Thursday's announcements, conservative commentators and policymakers criticized Trump for straying from anti-abortion policies and for supporting an expansion of government health care regulations that will increase the cost of insurance.
"Backstabbing the pro-life movement on the Florida abortion amendment and introducing free IVF for all, I hope all the people who told me he was the most pro-life president of our lifetime sleep well tonight!" said Patrick Brown, a family policy scholar and Deseret News contributor who has written about IVF.
Trump has campaigned heavily on his role in overturning Roe v. Wade and returning abortion law to the states. But he has also angered some Republican voters this election cycle by refusing to take an affirmative stance on restricting abortion.
