One of President Donald Trump’s campaign promises was to lower prescription drug costs for Americans. Drug manufacturers have long overcharged Americans while giving other countries a break. In May, the President signed an executive order to “rebalance a system that allows pharmaceutical manufacturers to offer low prices to other wealthy nations while charging Americans significantly higher prices.” He is signing agreements with drug companies to ensure their products are sold to Medicaid and individual Americans at prices comparable to those paid by other developed nations. The Administration’s most recent announcement involves lowering the costs of in-vitro fertilization (IVF) drugs and deserves a closer look.
During the 2024 campaign, President Trump announced that if re-elected the federal government or an individual’s employer “would be mandated” to pay for IVF treatments. Just months before, a lawsuit in Alabama regarding the personhood status of embryos created by IVF thrust the issue into the political sphere. After several frozen embryos were negligently destroyed in an IVF clinic, the parents attempted to sue for wrongful death of their preborn children. The case made its way to the state’s highest court, where the justices ruled that embryos created by IVF are covered by the state’s personhood statute, thus giving the parents a right to sue. The IVF clinics in Alabama reacted by pausing all IVF treatments in the state, as many frequently destroy embryos during the process.
The Left decided to make political hay with the issue. They argued that regulating IVF to prevent the destruction of living human embryos, even by negligence, was a violation of “reproductive rights” and callous to women struggling with infertility. Even some pro-life Republicans felt that questioning the unregulated practices of IVF clinics could damage their campaigns, so along with the incoming President, they made supportive statements of IVF and calls to provide more access.
Eagle Forum pushed back against the Left’s narrative for several reasons. Science confirms what the Bible teaches — that life begins at conception, the moment a sperm and egg unite. At that moment, the embryo that begins to form contains all the genetic makeup we need for human life. Creating excess lives by the in vitro process, only to be discarded or destroyed, is immoral. In addition, the IVF industry takes advantage of women by offering costly, painful methods with poor results. Some clinics push moral and ethical boundaries by providing parents the option to create “designer babies” by picking the sex, eye color, hair color, supposed intelligence level, and more. If the federal government were to subsidize this industry, it could cost taxpayers an additional $7 billion per year and leave too many women with the same underlying health issues that caused their infertility in the first place.
Eagle Forum believes in strong families, and we support women who want to have babies! That is why we endorse life and health-affirming alternatives to the limiting and often unsuccessful practice of IVF. In 2020, brought attention to Fertility Awareness Based Methods that provide insight into a woman’s health to help achieve pregnancy. These methods are often used with Restorative Reproductive Medicine (RRM) to facilitate finding and treating the underlying causes of infertility. RRM is not just a band-aid to cover infertility — it seeks to restore a woman’s natural functions to create long-term health for her and her baby. Not only is RRM much more affordable than IVF, but more successful as well. The average rate of a live birth is 40% with RRM compared to IVF’s 23%.
Eagle Forum and other pro-life groups have been communicating our concern with the President’s campaign statement of unqualified support for IVF. It definitely seems as if the White House has heard the concerns of pro-life Americans, but it seems as if the President’s announcement is an attempt to “split the baby” and make both sides happy. Gone is the talk of mandates but missing is any discussion of the serious ethical and moral issues that surround current IVF practices.
With the help of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Dr. Mehmet Oz, the federal government has worked out a solution to lowering the cost of certain IVF medicines through the drug manufacturing company EMD Serono. Currently, the IVF drug Gonal-F costs Americans 700% more than patients in other countries. The announcement also includes a New Benefit Option for employers to provide stand-alone coverage for IVF treatments through their insurance plans. The Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury will be in charge of implementing regulations regarding such plans.
At the press conference, Elizabeth Mitchell with Daily Signal asked if this new plan would offer “root-cause treatments” for infertility, referencing RRM. President Trump replied, “I think we are going to do that,” and brought up Department of Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-Deremer to respond further. She indicated that agencies were beginning to draft proposed rules that would allow additional services to treat infertility. Once those rules are posted, the public can provide comments in support or opposition. The Fact Sheet issued by the White House clarified that, “these benefit packages can address the continuum of fertility-related services, from those that address the root causes of infertility to IVF.”
Lowering the prices of IVF drugs and providing more healthcare coverage for IVF, without addressing the serious ethical implications, will bolster the IVF industry. This is bound to cost taxpayers more in the future. The IVF industry does not put children and mothers first. However, as Ryan Anderson of the Ethics and Public Policy Center puts it, the results were “the least bad we could have hoped for.” Including Restorative Reproductive Medicine to treat the underlying causes of infertility is a huge win for women and their babies.
We will continue to push for more safeguards and accountability within the IVF industry and promote life at every stage of human development. In addition, we will advocate for improving the overall health of women through restorative health care. We must also be willing to address the moral and ethical issues that are part of the larger Assisted Reproductive Technology debate.
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