CHICAGO (AP) 鈥 Days after a bombing outside a Southern California fertility clinic, a White House official confirmed Tuesday that the Trump administration is reviewing a list of recommendations to expand access to in vitro fertilization.
signed an in February asking for ways to and 鈥渁ggressively鈥 lower 鈥渙ut-of-pocket and health plan costs for IVF treatment.鈥 White House spokesperson Kush Desai said the White House Domestic Policy Council wrote the list of recommendations over the last 90 days.
鈥淭his is a key priority for President Trump, and the Domestic Policy Council has completed its recommendations,鈥 Desai said in a statement to The Associated Press.
Desai did not offer additional details about when the recommendations or a plan would be released or give details about the contents of the report.
The report was sent to the president days after an explosion damaged . The FBI believes was responsible for the blast, and authorities said his writings suggest he held that include a belief that it’s morally wrong for people to bring children into the world. Investigators have called the attack an act of .
The explosion brought renewed attention to the after it became a during the 2024 U.S. presidential race.
Dr. Brian Levine, a New York City reproductive endocrinologist and IVF specialist, said he expects the White House report will contain recommendations for the states and also hopes it calls for expanding IVF coverage for members of the military and federal government employees.
鈥淎s a fertility doctor who鈥檚 been practicing for the last 13 years, I don鈥檛 think I鈥檝e ever had this level of excitement for what the government is going to do,” he said. “For the first time in my career, IVF is a priority at the highest levels of the government. It signals to patients that finally our advocacy is being heard. Both sides of the aisle are recognizing the problem we have in this country with access to IVF care.鈥
called for universal coverage of IVF treatment while on the campaign trail, after his Supreme Court nominees helped to overturn Roe v. Wade, which had provided a constitutional right to abortion for half a century. That 2022 decision has led to a wave of restrictions in Republican-led states, including some that have by trying to define life as
During his campaign, to make the fertility treatment free for women but didn鈥檛 give details about how he would fund his plan or precisely how it would work. Abortion rights groups countered that IVF would not be threatened if not for the overturning of Roe v. Wade, which Trump has proudly taken credit for.
IVF costs vary but range from about $12,000 to $25,000 per cycle, and people often need more than one cycle. Insurance coverage can be patchy. Some plans cover it, some partly cover it and some don鈥檛 cover it at all.
Most Americans want access to IVF protected. Last year, from The Associated Press and NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that about six out of 10 U.S. adults support that.
Trump’s stance on IVF has put him with of much of his own party. While Trump has claimed the Republican Party has been a 鈥渓eader鈥 on IVF, many Republicans have been left grappling with the tension between support for the procedure and for laws passed by their own party that grant not only to fetuses but to any embryos that are destroyed in the IVF process.
GOP efforts to create a national narrative that it is receptive of IVF also have been undercut by state lawmakers, Republican-dominated courts and anti-abortion leaders within the party鈥檚 ranks, as well as to protect IVF access.
Mini Timmaraju, CEO and president of the national abortion rights organization Reproductive Freedom for All, called Trump鈥檚 comments about IVF 鈥渓ip service.鈥
“All Trump has done is stack his administration with extremists, restrict access to reproductive care, and implement the dangerous Project 2025 plan, which would threaten access to IVF nationwide,鈥 she said.
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Associated Press Science Writer Laura Ungar contributed to this report from Louisville, Kentucky.
