Photo: Bill Pugliano Getty Images via Agence France-Presse Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in Potterville, Michigan, on Thursday
Agence France-Presse in Potterville
Published at 19:34
- United States
Republican candidate Donald Trump announced Thursday that he supports reimbursement for in vitro fertilization for couples in the United States so that the country can have “more babies.”
“Under a Trump presidency, the state or your insurance company will pay for all costs associated with IVF,” the former president said at a campaign rally in Michigan.
The issue of IVF is particularly sensitive and highly political in the run-up to the November presidential election.
Since the United States Supreme Court ended the constitutional guarantee of the right to abortion in 2022, abortion rights advocates have been concerned that medically assisted reproduction, and in particular IVF, could be affected.
In February, a court in the very conservative state of Alabama said it considered frozen embryos to be “children,” and several specialized clinics announced they would suspend their activities in the wake of this decision.
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The affair, directly linked to the debate on abortion, had quickly risen to the top of the electoral campaign.
It illustrates a certain unease within the conservative camp which claims to be resolutely “pro-life”. However, suspending IVF is, for some, in contradiction with the defense of the family and traditional values.
“We want more babies,” declared Donald Trump, Thursday.
Very ambiguous on abortion, the septuagenarian also indicated during an interview on the sidelines of the meeting that the current six-week deadline for abortion in Florida, the state where he resides, was “too short.”
“It has to be longer,” he told NBC.
The issue of protecting abortion rights, central to the duel between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, will be the subject of a referendum in Florida and a handful of closely contested states in the November election.