Trump calls on Alabama to protect IVF treatment after bombshell ruling

by Brett Samuels - 02/23/24 2:39 PM ET

Former President Trump voiced support Friday for preserving access to in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments in the wake of a controversial Alabama court ruling that frozen embryos are people.

“Under my leadership, the Republican Party will always support the creation of strong, thriving, healthy American families. We want to make it easier for mothers and fathers to have babies, not harder! That includes supporting the availability of fertility treatments like IVF in every State in America,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“Like the OVERWHELMING MAJORITY of Americans, including the VAST MAJORITY of Republicans, Conservatives, Christians, and Pro-Life Americans, I strongly support the availability of IVF for couples who are trying to have a precious baby,” Trump wrote.

The former president called on the Alabama Legislature to “act quickly to find an immediate solution to preserve the availability of IVF” in the state after multiple IVF providers there paused treatments in the wake of the court ruling.

Hours later, Trump repeated the same message during a rally in South Carolina on the eve of the state’s GOP primary.

Trump’s message marked a rare instance of the former president weighing in on an issue related to reproductive health care. He has steadfastly avoided taking a specific stance on abortion restrictions, other than to say he supports exceptions for rape, incest and cases where the life of the mother is threatened.

It comes as the Senate GOP campaign arm has urged candidates to voice support for IVF in the wake of the court ruling, and as Democrats have directly connected the Alabama decision to the Supreme Court’s ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade.

“American women couldn’t care less what Donald Trump posts on Truth Social, they care that they can’t access fertility treatment because of him,” Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said in a statement. “Let’s be clear: Alabama families losing access to IVF is a direct result of Donald Trump’s Supreme Court justices overturning Roe v. Wade.”

“Trump cannot run from his record and neither can the millions of women who his actions have hurt,” she added. “Trump and his extreme MAGA allies are planning to ban abortion nationally, limit contraception, and destroy women’s health care coast to coast.”

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Trump has frequently bragged that he ended Roe v. Wade through the appointment of three conservative Supreme Court justices, and Democrats have won a series of legislative victories thanks in large part to their messaging on protecting abortion access.

The Alabama Supreme Court ruling marked the first time a court has ever given rights and protections so early after conception. The ruling did not ban IVF and is limited to Alabama, but it has far-reaching potential and seems poised to open a new front in the fight over reproductive rights in the country, as millions of Americans have relied on IVF to have children.

While many Republicans have come out in support of IVF treatment, they have had a harder time finding a position on the court ruling, which found that frozen embryos are children and subject to legislation dealing with the wrongful death of a minor.

“That’s a hard one. It really is,” Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) told reporters at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday, when asked what he would say to women in Alabama who will not have access to in vitro fertilization as a result of the ruling.

Nikki Haley, Trump’s last remaining rival in the 2024 GOP primary, said she agreed that an embryo is a baby, but didn’t necessarily agree with the court’s decision.

“The difference is — and this is what I say about abortion as well — we need to treat these issues with the utmost respect,” she added in an interview Wednesday.

Updated at 4:53 p.m.

Tags Alabama embryo ruling IVF Julie Chavez Rodriguez Nikki Haley