Trump calls himself the ‘father of IVF’ in Fox News town hall
Former president Donald Trump called himself the “father of IVF” during a Fox News town hall taped Tuesday in front of an all-woman audience.
Trump told moderator Harris Faulkner that the Republicans were the party of IVF or in vitro fertilization.
The town hall was held in Georgia, a key swing state and featured Trump responding to issues affecting women, and is set to air Wednesday.
“We really are the party for IVF,” Trump said. “We want fertilization, and it’s all the way, and the Democrats tried to attack us on it, and we’re out there on IVF, even more than them. So, we’re totally in favor.”
Earlier this year, IVF became a national topic after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos have the same legal protection as children.
The issue quickly put IVF clinics in legal danger and forced several to pause their treatments.
The Alabama Legislature passed protections for IVF clinics and doctors, but the legislation still did not respond to whether frozen embryos had personhood under the law.
Due to the Alabama ruling and the overturning of Roe v. Wade the issue of reproductive healthcare has become a key issue especially for women voters.
Democrats have been messaging that the two rulings are indicative of how Republicans will endanger the accessbility of reproductive healthcare. However, Republicans have tried to demonstrate their support for IVF specifically to counteract this messaging, hence Trump’s comments.
Following Trump’s comment, Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, posted on X expressing confusion at his statement.
“Donald Trump called himself ‘the father of IVF.’ What is he talking about?” Harris said. “His abortion bans have already jeopardized access to it in states across the country — and his own platform could end IVF altogether.”
U.S. Sen. Katie Britt, R-AL, has been one of the more vocal Republicans touting support for IVF over the last few months.
Britt introduced a bill that would have prevented states from receiving Medicaid funding if they prohibited IVF access, but the Democrats stopped the measure.
Trump has said Britt helped shape his opinion on IVF after the two spoke on the phone following the February state Supreme Court ruling.
Trump said his position on IVF was formed five minutes into the phone call with Britt, adding that he “came out strongly in favor” of protecting the treatments “within 45 minutes” of the Alabama Supreme Court decision.