US President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order aiming to make in-vitro fertilization (IVF) free for people facing infertility build their families.
The order instructed Domestic Policy Council, led by Vince Haley, to give Trump a list of policy recommendations on protecting IVF access and “aggressively reducing out-of-pocket and health plan costs for IVF treatment” within 90 days.
“Americans need reliable access to IVF and more affordable treatment options, as the cost per cycle can range from $12,000 to $25,000,” the order said.
“Providing support, awareness, and access to affordable fertility treatments can help these families navigate their path to parenthood with hope and confidence, it added”
This comes after Trump vowed to make IVF free during his election campaign after Democrats claimed that Republican opposition to abortion threatened access to the procedure.
“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 at a rally in Michigan.
“We want more babies, to put it very nicely,” he added.
“Promises made. Promises kept: President Trump just signed an Executive Order to Expand Access to IVF!” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt tweeted.
Trump’s stance on abortion has varied over the years. He had previously considered supporting a 15-week nationwide abortion ban but later declared that abortion regulation should be managed at the state level.
In-vitro fertilization offers a possible solution when a woman has trouble getting pregnant, and it’s normally tried after other, less expensive fertility treatments have failed.
It involves retrieving the woman’s eggs and combining them in a lab dish with a man’s sperm to create a fertilized embryo, which is then transferred into her uterus in an attempt to create a pregnancy.
IVF is done in cycles and may take more than one. The procedure can use a couple’s eggs and sperm or those from a donor.