While discussing one of the most anticipated topics of the first (and possibly only) 2024 presidential debate, former President Donald Trump boldly claimed to be “a leader in in vitro fertilization” (IVF) after moderators asked whether Americans should trust him on the issue of abortion — and, more specifically, whether he would veto a nationwide ban on the medical procedure, a question he did not clearly answer.
“I have been a leader in in vitro fertilization,” Trump said during the debate, which took place in Philadelphia at the National Constitution Center on Sept. 10. (In vitro fertilization is a common and effective fertility treatment in which eggs are removed from a person’s ovaries and then combined with sperm outside a person’s body in a laboratory; the fertilized egg is then implanted inside the person’s uterus.) He was responding specifically to statements made by Vice President Kamala Harriswho appealed to the public to “understand what is happening under Donald Trump’s abortion bans. Couples who pray and dream of having a family are being denied IVF treatments.”
Trump’s past comments on assisted reproductive technology like in vitro fertilization are confusing at best, leaving even Republicans scratching my head Trump has been tight-lipped about what exactly he plans to support if reelected. He wasn’t exactly lying when he tried to explain that he asked state lawmakers to protect access to IVF after a controversial Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos can be considered children under the law prompted several clinics and providers to pause treatments. In a Feb. 23 post on the social media platform Truth Social, Trump said, “Under my leadership, the Republican Party will always support creating strong, thriving, healthy American families. We want to make it easier for moms and dads to have babies, not harder!”
And he even suggested that the government or health insurance companies should financially support IVF. “We will, under the Trump administration, we will pay for this treatment,” Trump counted NBC News in August. “We’re going to demand that the insurance company pay.” His statement apparently came as a surprise to those working on his campaign.
But as promising as his support for IVF may seem, it seems like a sham at best. When NBC News Asked to elaborate on his comments earlier this month, his campaign told the outlet it’s unclear whether there actually is a plan.
After all, Trump’s critical role in overturning of Roe v. Wadethat eliminated the constitutional right to abortion — a move for which he proudly took credit, as it was made possible by the Supreme Court justices he appointed — paved the way for the Alabama decision that threatened the use of embryos for in vitro fertilization in the first place.
That’s why it’s worth taking a look Trump’s record on abortionin particular; he has used a similar spin strategy around the issue to appease his base while trying to attract more moderate voters. In 2018, he endorsed a nationwide 20-week abortion ban and promised to sign it if it passed the Senate (which it did not). In 2019, he passed a rule allowing health care providers to deny services like abortion based on their religious beliefs. Then, in 2022, Trump appeared to backtrack on his more rigid positions on abortion and criticized “Republicans, particularly those who fought against exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother, lost a huge number of voters.” This year, however, he reportedly favored a nationwide ban on abortion at 16 weeks (and then 15 weeks), before ultimately saying the issue should be left to the states, a point he also made several times during the debate.
What is clear is that Trump’s contradictory statements on reproductive health care are and always have been last-ditch efforts to hold onto any shred of support he can, which Harris directly called out during the debate tonight, stating, “The majority of Americans believe in a woman’s right to make decisions about her own body. And that’s why in every state where this issue has been on the ballot, in red states and blue states, the people of America have voted for freedom.”
Your health is always on the ballot — and your vote is more powerful than you think! Follow SELF’s coverage of the 2024 election here.
Related: