“One in three Americans are under-babied,” said Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz at a recent White House event on maternal health. He went on to explain that the fertility rate has dropped to 1.5 children per woman of childbearing age. With the population replacement rate being 2.1 children per woman, this lack of family flourishing could risk the stability of our nation. The Trump administration understands the urgency of the matter. They have consistently stressed the importance of marriage, children, and family for a healthy society. However, the government must be careful when deciding what policy prescriptions to pursue. Any government actions must be pro-life and pro-family.
On Mother’s Day, the White House announced the creation of Moms.gov, a website for pregnant women and new mothers that provides information about pregnancy resource centers and federally qualified health centers. The website also links to information on CDC recommendations for maternal and child nutrition, pregnancy-related health problems, fertility awareness-based methods to achieve or avoid pregnancy, substance abuse resources, including marijuana use, and information on Trump Accounts. It also includes a link to conscience protections in federal law, acknowledging “that deeply held religious beliefs and moral convictions can shape health care decisions that families make.” It is refreshing to have the federal government proactively affirm our rights of conscience.
The website stemmed from initiatives in Congress such as Representative Diana Harshbarger’s (R-TN) Pregnancy.gov Act (H.R. 3287) and Senator Katie Britt (R-AL) and Rep. Michelle Fischbach’s (R-MN) MOMS Act (S. 1630/H.R. 3235). As Rep. Harshbarger stated in a press release:
Having a baby is one of God’s greatest gifts, and no mother should ever face that blessing alone and afraid. I introduced the Pregnancy.gov Act because I knew that getting the right information to a woman at the right moment could change what happens next. I’m proud that the Trump administration embraced the vision behind my legislation and turned it into a trusted, life-affirming resource that can help connect women and families to the care and support they need.
Yet, the White House is messaging the website differently than the pro-life community. At the same maternal health event, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy said that Moms.gov is “one-stop shopping for IVF” and the White House has continued that rhetoric. While the website does not explicitly mention IVF, it prominently features Trump.RX, another Administration website that lists discounted drug prices from manufacturers that have agreed to Most Favored Nation (MFN) prescription pricing — including many fertility medicines used for IVF.
At the same time, the Department of Labor proposed a rule that would allow businesses to offer IVF coverage to employees as a supplemental health care policy. The process of IVF can be incredibly expensive. These new policies allow employers to provide coverage up to $120,000 per employee. A single round of IVF can cost between $12,000-$30,000, and women often need multiple rounds to achieve pregnancy. Still, the rate of a baby being born alive after IVF is only 23%. Sadly, IVF does not deal with the underlying health issues that cause infertility. Additionally, the embryos created from this process are frequently discarded for a range of reasons, such as undesirable health outcomes, physical traits or sex, or simply too many were created. These doctors are not discarding tissue — they are discarding human life.
This new healthcare benefit (that is paid for by employers, not the government) has a silver lining, though. The benefit allows men and women to seek alternative fertility treatments before deciding to start the process of IVF. If couples use methods such as Restorative Reproductive Medicine (RRM) first, their chance of a live birth before using IVF jumps to 40%, and the cost is significantly less. Plus, RRM treats the root causes of infertility, which last long after the baby is born — increasing health outcomes for mother and child.
Once the proposed rule allowing these benefits to be implemented is published in the Federal Register, the public can send in comments expressing support or opposition. Eagle Forum will create a sample comment in support of natural fertility methods such as RRM while also opposing coverage of IVF. Being pro-life means supporting the long-term health of mother and child and opposing the destruction of new human life.
The Trump administration created an excellent pro-life resource with Moms.gov. They need to ensure that it is messaged correctly as a resource for new and expectant mothers. In addition, we urge them to be aware of the pro-life concerns surrounding the IVF industry and refrain from touting it as the solution to the birthrate problem and infertility. Make sure you are signed up for our emails and alerts so that you do not miss important updates on this issue, including how and when to submit your views on the new regulations. You can visit our website here for more resources on IVF and fertility.