Trump Says He Would Consider Religious Exemptions to Covering IVF

(Bloomberg) - Former President Donald Trump said he would consider religious exemptions for his campaign pledge to cover the costs of in vitro fertilization, a concession to some of his conservative Christian supporters who oppose the fertility procedure.

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"Well, you know, I haven't been asked that, but it sounds to me like a pretty good idea, frankly," the Republican nominee said in an interview with Catholic news channel EWTN Thursday. "But even Catholics, a lot of them, they want IVF fertilization, basically, and they view that as helping a family, helping parents have a child."

Trump in August announced he intended to mandate the federal government or insurance companies to cover all costs associated with IVF, after struggling to manage divisions within his own party about reproductive health care ranging from the fertility procedure to abortion. He has not provided further details about the proposal or how to pay for it.

Calling himself the "father of IVF" in a town hall with Fox News earlier this week, Trump has recently attempted to re-brand himself as a champion for reproductive rights, a tacit acknowledgment that his previous efforts to overturn federal abortion protections — and Republican resistance to federal protection for IVF — have become an electoral liability. Polls have consistently shown that more voters trust his Democratic opponent Kamala Harris over Trump on reproductive rights.

IVF treatments became a flash point after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled in February that frozen embryos could be considered children under state law. The ruling saw clinics in the state suspend treatments until the governor signed a law to protect health-care providers from civil and criminal liability.

Trump has sought to distance himself from the abortion issue, repeatedly insisting it's a matter for states, not the federal government. His running mate JD Vance during a vice presidential debate earlier this month acknowledged abortion had become a fraught issue for the party, saying that Americans "don't trust" Republicans on abortion.

Religious organizations sought — and failed to receive — an exemption to an Affordable Care Act rule that requires employee health plans to cover birth control to patients without a co-pay.

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