Staff Reports
President Trump has made waves again in the world of reproductive health, this time with an executive order aimed at broadening access to in vitro fertilization (IVF) across America. With the stroke of a pen, he has set the stage for policy recommendations designed to protect IVF access while slashing treatment costs. This move is being lauded by some as an innovative step toward family formation, but a closer look reveals an undeniable irony in promoting the very technology that often neglects the sanctity of life.
Trump’s order highlights the administration’s intent to ensure “reliable access to IVF,” which, on the surface, sounds like a noble cause. After all, who doesn’t want to build their family? However, the IVF process is fraught with ethical dilemmas, not to mention a disconcerting casualty rate among the embryos created during these procedures. For many embryos, the journey doesn’t end with a happy family photo—it often results in being discarded, frozen, or even aborted. This grim reality raises uncomfortable questions about what it means to champion family formations that risk devaluing the lives of potential siblings.
Promises Made. Promises Kept!
Today, DJT signed an EO to expand access to IVF and making it Significantly Cheaper… exact details unknown, but might include making insurance companies pay for it.
• August 2024, Donald Trump promised that all IVF Treatments will be more… pic.twitter.com/3wksGgVwb3
— MJTruthUltra (@MJTruthUltra) February 18, 2025
Experts in bioethics, like Emma Waters from the Heritage Foundation, have pointed out the alarming implications of IVF. The heart of the issue lies in the practice of creating multiple embryos, thus turning nature on its head in an effort to boost the odds of success. This approach ultimately treats human life as a mere commodity rather than recognizing the unique dignity of each embryo. For every baby welcomed into the world, countless others are left behind or deemed unworthy of life due to perceived defects. This isn’t just a loss; it’s a systematic failure that undermines the very foundation of family values.
Society is already grappling with the ramifications of turning parenthood into a product-driven process. With over one million embryos languishing in freezers across the country, it raises the chilling question of what kind of future is being forged. Many of those frozen little ones, who could potentially become cherished members of a family, are instead regulated to the status of surplus goods. This practice is antithetical to the pro-life values that many conservatives hold dear. Claims that IVF is an anti-life endeavor echo loudly, and they are hard to dismiss when dispatched from the mouths of pastor and parishioners alike.
In fact, many Christian denominations, including the powerful Roman Catholic Church and Southern Baptist Convention, have roundly condemned IVF for its inherent ethical issues. They are rising to remind leaders, including Trump, that while the noble goal of building families is important, it should not come at the cost of ignoring the basic rights of the beings involved. Family formation should promote life, not risk it. And in the eyes of many Christians, civil leaders ought to encourage marriage and child-rearing without resorting to complex, often risky technologies.
The reactions from the right have been swift and decisive following the executive order’s announcement. Experts and commentators have proclaimed this decision as one of Trump’s most misguided moves yet. Pundits point out that by endorsing IVF, he has not only contradicted his pro-life stance but has also opened the door to moral complexities that threaten to unravel the very fabric of family and life. The reality is stark: when the cost of a single baby is several others put on the chopping block, conservative values are at stake in a way that is unsettling.
While the administration’s intentions may have seemed good on the surface, the implications of expanding IVF access call into question what it truly means to stand for family values. If one can commodify life, then family becomes less about nurturing relationships and more about clinical statistics. In the quest to make families great again, the last thing conservatives need is to open Pandora’s box with new and divisive reproductive technologies.
