Donald Trump promises free IVF for women, criticises six-week abortion ban

Republican presidential candidate’s comments latest bid to present a moderate image on reproductive issues.

Donald Trump has pledged to make in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment free for all women and criticised a six-week abortion ban in Florida, the latest bid by the Republican to rebrand himself as a defender of reproductive rights.

Speaking at a campaign stop on Thursday, Trump said he would require the government or insurance companies to cover all costs for IVF if elected to a second term as president in November.

“Because we want more babies, to put it very nicely,” Trump told supporters in Potterville, Michigan, a key battleground state.

“But the IVF treatments are very expensive,” the Republican Party candidate added. “It’s very hard for many people to do it, and to get it. But I’ve been in favour of IVF right from the beginning.”

Trump did not elaborate on how he would fund the plans.

Trump also said he would allow new parents to deduct “major newborn expenses” from their taxes if re-elected.

In an interview with NBC News earlier on Thursday, Trump said that a six-week limit on abortion signed by the Republican Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis is “too short” and there should be “more time”.

Trump also appeared to suggest that he would vote in favour of an upcoming ballot measure in Florida to guarantee a right to an abortion until foetal viability, although a campaign adviser later said the former president had not revealed whether he would support the measure.

Trump’s comments come as he seeks to moderate Republicans’ image on reproductive access, which has been cited as a drag on the party’s standing among women.

On Friday, Trump, who appointed three of the US Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn the constitutional right to an abortion, said in a post on his Truth Social platform that his administration would be “great for women and their reproductive rights”.

Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party candidate, has repeatedly cast Trump as a threat to women’s rights, including access to abortion, birth control and fertility treatments.

Addressing supporters in the swing state of Georgia on Thursday, Harris reiterated her warning that Trump would sign a nationwide abortion ban in office.

“Why don’t they trust women? Well, we trust women! And when Congress passes a bill to restore reproductive freedom, as president of the United States, I will proudly sign it into law,” she said.

Senator JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, on Saturday told NBC News that Trump would veto a national abortion ban if sent to his desk by Congress.

Opinion polls suggest that Trump has lost support among women voters since the vice president replaced President Joe Biden as the Democratic contender.

In a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Thursday, Harris led Trump by 13 percentage points among women, up from a nine-point lead in July.

While Trump’s effort to present a moderate image on reproductive issues could boost his appeal in some quarters, it risks alienating religious and anti-abortion voters, who make up a significant portion of the Republican base.

“It’s a problem for Trump that after the speech which he wanted to settle the issue, he is, week by week, making his position on abortion more liberal, pulling the floorboards out from under his pro-life supporters and making them feel like he won’t stop,” Michael Brendan Dougherty, a writer for the conservative National Review, said in a post on X on Thursday.

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Al Jazeera and news agencies