You’re hearing a lot of celebrating from White House supporters about babies born. What about the babies lost in the process?
So Donald Trump has announced his long-threatened IVF policy. He began with his signature enthusiasm, talking about how “exciting” it was that he was set to announce price decreases for fertility drugs.
It could have been worse.
Whereas he had once given the impression that Making America Fertile Again would be giving away IVF, that’s just not plausible economically or scientifically. IVF is way more of a gamble than that.
As it was presented in the Oval Office, the lower prices are primarily about trade negotiations — which Mehmet Oz emphasized, before saying how the upcoming “Trump babies” will undo the “under-baby[ing]” of America.
In making the announcement, the president was self-aware about the impossibility of a layman pronouncing the names of some of the drugs he was talking about. It was fitting. He really has had no idea what he has been talking about since the beginning.
He did not mention any of the moral concerns about IVF — concerns that are nothing new. Excess embryos are created, and embryos are both put on ice and destroyed. Lives are created, put in limbo, and killed.
This is about: “Many more beautiful American babies,” the president said, as speakers emphasized the “momentous” nature of the announcement.
Teachers, firefighters, Americans of all walks of life are impacted by the agony of infertility. It’s on the increase, speakers made clear. How about dedicating resources to finding out why? How about healing, rather than helping people make money off infertility?
It could have been worse. Employees providing benefits are encouraged but not mandated. Of course, I’m not sure the White House should get too much credit for that. I don’t know how you could have actually mandated something that isn’t as successful as hyped. That said: Thank you to the people behind the scenes who tried to keep the damage down.
President Trump sounded like Crazy Eddie, the old electronics advertiser. “Prices are going down. Way, way down!”
Insane. IVF isn’t just about money. It often is false hope for couples trying to have a baby. AND IT KILLS. IVF is not pro-life.
In the second Trump administration, we’ve gotten a generic mifepristone — the main abortion pill — and cheaper fertility treatments, with the added bonus that people who claim to be pro-life are blurring the reality of what IVF is. But, never mind, there will be Trump babies! Beautiful American babies.
Babies who are born by IVF are to be loved and treasured. They are human lives, after all. But there are better ways to go about this. The Trump administration didn’t help life today, it deepened our participation as a nation in an evil — the destruction of human lives under the banner of hope and life and family.
God bless the doctors who do real work to help couples find the reasons they are not having babies.
You’re hearing a lot of celebrating from White House supporters about babies born. What about the babies lost in the process? What about the babies whose fate is determined from month to month in storage?
I just find this unnecessarily heartbreaking. More false hopes. More death, even in the midst of more life. A muddled moral — and medical — mess.