Trump says he supports IVF after Alabama court decision

Former President Donald Trump declared his support for in vitro fertilization treatment and called on Alabama lawmakers to preserve access to it after a ruling by the state’s high court forced hospitals there to stop offering the procedure.

Trump addressed the issue in a post on Truth Social on Friday, days after the Alabama court’s ruling declaring embryos are children. Democrats have sought to tie that decision to broader GOP efforts to restrict access to abortion since the reversal of Roe v. Wade. And President Joe Biden’s campaign has laid blame for the ruling squarely at the feet of Trump, noting that he has taken pride in the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn abortion protections.

Trump has taken credit for appointing the justices who overturned Roe on the campaign trail, but has shied away from publicly embracing the more hardline anti-abortion and anti-contraception policies sought by some social conservatives.

“Like the OVERWHELMING MAJORITY of Americans, including the VAST MAJORITY of Republicans, Conservatives, Christians, and Pro-Life Americans, I strongly support the availability of IVF for couples who are trying to have a precious baby,” he said in a post on Truth Social.

The post came hours after a memo revealed the leading Republican Senate campaign arm is urging candidates to publicly support IVF. Earlier this week, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, the sole Republican still running against Trump in the GOP primary, said she believed that embryos “are babies.”

Alabama Republicans are already considering legislation to restore protections for IVF treatments. The House Speaker, Nathaniel Ledbetter, said that the legislature “will soon consider a solution that preserves our Alabama values by empowering IVF clinics to continue assisting couples in bringing new life into the world.”

And shortly after Trump put out his post, the chair of the House’s health committee, Paul Lee, texted that members “are working diligently to address this issue, ASAP.”

Megan Messerly contributed reporting.