IVF and the pro-life movement: Trump’s executive order draws mixed reactions

Here’s what you need to know

This week, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that aims to expand access to invitro fertilization (IVF) treatments in the United States.

“Americans need reliable access to IVF and more affordable treatment options, as the cost per cycle can range from $12,000 to $25,000. Providing support, awareness, and access to affordable fertility treatments can help these families navigate their path to parenthood with hope and confidence,” the order states.

“Therefore, to support American families, it is the policy of my Administration to ensure reliable access to IVF treatment, including by easing unnecessary statutory or regulatory burdens to make IVF treatment drastically more affordable.”

The order directs his administration to develop policy recommendations that would reduce the cost of IVF.

Although President Trump has received enthusiastic support from the pro-life community, this is one issue that has earned him vocal critique from this same base. And for good reason — IVF is fraught with moral concerns at best.

While those who oppose abortion would be the first to validate any couple’s desire to have children, the process of artificially inseminating human eggs and freezing or destroying embryos that are not selected for implantation is anything but pro-life.

“Only 7% of human embryos created via IVF will result in a live birth,” Live Action Network founder Lila Rose wrote on X in reaction to the news. “93% of these lives are frozen indefinitely, miscarried, or aborted.

“Over 1,000,000 embryos are frozen in the U.S.,” she continued. “IVF is NOT pro-life.”

Liberty Counsel founder Mat Staver added his own commentary on Facebook, explaining: “Children created through IVF are human beings made in the image of God, just as any child conceived naturally. As far as the future of IVF is concerned, it must be approached in a way that affirms the sanctity of each embryo’s life, places the protection of children before the desires of adults, and treats embryos as children instead of objects for sale.”

Some were far more scathing in their rebuke of the executive order.

Child advocate Katy Faust denounced the order, accusing “#BigFertility” of likely destroying more than “4x more embryonic life annually than Planned Parenthood.”

“This is an anti-child executive order,” she declared.

President Donald Trump will always go down in history as the president who appointed Supreme Court Justices that overturned Roe v. Wade, empowering states to ban abortion or drastically reduce abortion.

At the start of his second term, he pardoned pro-life activists and added the US back to an international declaration dismissing the notion that there is no “right” to abortion.

However, he has not committed to nationally banning abortion, and he also promised to expand IVF access on the campaign trail, so he’s not breaking any promises here.

That said, we must remember that he still works for the American people, and we the American people can never claim to live in a moral nation where children are killed in the womb, in a lab, or frozen indefinitely because they were not desired by their parents.

Pro-life is either pro-life from the womb to the tomb, or it’s a grievous moral compromise that will be remembered through eternity.

Let’s hold Trump accountable to a consistent pro-life policy platform, whether he’s promised to be consistently pro-life or not.