Trump pledges free IVF for all in second term

Donald Trump said Thursday he would have the government or insurance companies cover the cost of in vitro fertilization for "all Americans who need it" in a second term -- although he declined to say how he would pay for it.

Reproductive rights have been a major vulnerability for the Republican White House nominee ever since the Supreme Court gutted federal protections for abortion access in 2022.

Trump's weakness was further exacerbated after an Alabama court ruled in February that frozen embryos created via IVF should be considered children.

Trump said he supported IVF after several clinics paused services following the Alabama decision.

"I'm announcing today in a major statement that, under the Trump administration, your government will pay for -- or your insurance company will be mandated to pay for -- all costs associated with IVF treatment," he told a rally in Potterville, Michigan.

He offered no detail on how his proposal would work, including how it would be funded, but when the announcement was previewed in an interview with NBC ahead of the event, Trump said one option would be to have insurance companies pay "under a mandate."

Experts say the 2022 US Supreme Court ruling effectively granted states the final say on questions of personhood, paving the way for wide-reaching impacts on other areas of reproductive health, including IVF.

Not all Americans have insurance plans that cover fertility treatments in any case, with costs of up to $20,000 or more for a single round of IVF treatment too expensive for many.

The ex-president added that under a second Trump term, new parents would be able to deduct "major newborn expenses" from their tax bill, proclaiming that "we're pro-family."

Although his support for IVF has been consistent since the February ruling, Trump has frequently changed his position on abortion, one of the most divisive political issues in the country.

He told NBC News in 1999 he was "very pro-choice" before announcing he was "pro-life" in 2011 and that women who seek abortions should get "some form of punishment" in 2016.

Trump has now taken credit for installing the Supreme Court justices who struck down federal abortion rights, but on Thursday sent mixed signals over a Florida referendum this November which seeks to reverse his home state's ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy.

Six weeks "is too short, there has to be more time," Trump told NBC. "I am going to be voting that we need more than six weeks."

Shortly after, his campaign issued a statement that Trump had not been indicating how he will vote.

Trump and his election rival, Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, are campaigning in swing states this week as they embark on the most intense phase of the campaign.

Harris, rallying in Savannah, Georgia, told supporters Trump would sign a national abortion ban into law if he won.

"Ours is a fight for the future. And it is a fight for freedom. Like the freedom of a woman to make decisions about her own body, and not have her government tell her what to do," she said.