Infertility is a national dilemma, but the Trump administration’s answer to it is not one pro-lifers can fully get behind.

President Donald Trump last week proposed a new rule for employers to provide stand-alone coverage for fertility benefits, aside from standard health insurance, similar to dental care or vision. With a ceiling of $120,000, these fertility benefits would be required to cover infertility diagnosis, treatment, and IVF — which is giving pro-lifers pause.

This new proposal is built upon President Trump’s executive order “Expanding Access to In Vitro Fertilization” from February 2025, the goal of which was to ensure affordable access to IVF for American families. It also includes potentially acceptable treatment for infertility. This makes it a partial win — including ethical treatments for couples struggling with infertility — and a partial loss — potentially driving an increase in IVF due to more affordable access.

President Trump said the new proposal will “hopefully reduce the number of couples who ultimately need to resort to IVF because challenges can be identified and addressed very early in the process,” suggesting IVF is to be seen as a final resort.

But this perspective nevertheless normalizes IVF, while pro-lifers worry for the one million-plus embryos currently on ice.

While these “fertility benefits” may support ethical infertility treatments, making IVF treatments more affordable increases the danger of disheartened infertile couples ultimately opting for IVF, though they would otherwise prefer to have children through the natural order. Doctors often present IVF as the easiest option rather than delving into infertility’s root causes, and this proposed rule may make that problem worse.

IVF is merely a set of crooked stitches closing an infected wound. It bypasses the source of legitimate struggles infertile couples experience and looks for results through other means. The IVF process, like abortion, typically treats preborn life as a commodity. Multiple embryos are created “just in case” implantation fails, meaning many will ultimately be discarded or frozen indefinitely.

While the Trump administration is making moves to support mothers through initiatives such as Moms.gov, a federal push toward IVF access will only further sideline holistic infertility treatment and perpetuate the commodification of unborn children.