Donald Trump made one of his most bizarre claims yet when he declared himself “the father of IVF,” despite his overturning of Roe v. Wade and political party threatening IVF access.
As the Presidential Election looms, many women have been concerned about how much further reproduction rights will deteriorate under Trump and J. D. Vance. Both have failed to reassure Americans that they will protect IVF access, given that Trump’s overturning of Roe v. Wade has led to states like Alabama ruling that frozen embryos are children, causing hospitals to pause fertility treatments for fear of criminal prosecution. Although Vance has claimed to support IVF, he opted to skip a Senate vote on a bill that would’ve protected IVF access, which Republicans immediately shot down. On top of that, he has previously voiced support for a nationwide abortion ban, preventing women from traveling for abortions, and including no exceptions in abortion laws for rape or incest victims.
Given Republican attacks on IVF access and Trump and Vance’s repeated failure to prove they would protect IVF, Trump’s latest proclamation was especially perplexing.
Donald Trump goes on incoherent rant about IVF
Recently, Trump participated in a Fox News town hall to tackle women’s issues for an all-female audience. His appearance came after a string of incidents in which Trump displayed perplexing and concerning behavior, such as deciding to stand on stage silently swaying to music for 40 minutes instead of speaking or answering audience questions at a different town hall. During the Fox News town hall, the interviewer quickly brought up IVF access, one of the most pressing women’s issues in the upcoming election.
As soon as IVF was mentioned, Trump said, “Oh, I want to talk about IVF.” He then said, “I’m the father of IVF, so I want to hear this question.” It’s unclear what this statement is supposed to mean, although it sounds like the former president is somehow trying to claim he’s the inventor of the same IVF his party wants to ban. His bizarre statement quickly started trending on X, with users expressing concern for his unhinged statement while also pointing out how his overturning of Roe v. Wade and his followers’ Project 2025 poses the biggest threat to IVF.
However, Trump’s rant on IVF somehow managed to go further downhill from there. In the town hall meeting in front of a live audience, he admitted that he had no idea what IVF was until recently. According to him, he only learned what IVF was in February when Alabama made its embryo ruling. He got a call from Senator Katie Britt, who he called “a fantastically attractive person from Alabama.” When she relayed to him the judge’s ruling, he admitted, “I didn’t know they were even involved in [IVF]; nobody talks about that, they don’t talk about it, but now that they can’t do it, she said I was attacked in a certain way, I was attacked.” Trump then continued, revealing he told Britt to “explain IVF” to him “very quickly.”
Trump insisted it only took him “two minutes” to understand IVF and decide, “We’re totally in favor of IVF.” While it didn’t seem possible Trump could possibly lessen America’s faith in his stance on IVF, he somehow did just that. How can a man who is running for president of the United States not have known what IVF was until just this year? How can anyone believe a man will protect IVF when he’s shown no indication he knows what it is? Instead of answering questions on IVF, he immediately made nonsensical proclamations and recounted how he heard about it to avoid having to demonstrate an ounce of knowledge on the topic.
It also, once again, highlights the double standard in this election. Republicans have barely batted an eye over Trump’s admission to not knowing what IVF is. Can one even imagine the fallout if Kamala Harris had ever made such an admission and the relentless, brutal mocking she would face? Or if any other elected official, in general, made such a statement? Yet, Trump can dub himself the “father of IVF” and admit to having an egregious lack of understanding of some of this nation’s most pressing issues while running for his second term as President of the United States.
Published: Oct 16, 2024 06:22 pm