Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday slammed former President Donald Trump’s recent comments on in vitro fertilization, pointing to his administration’s impact on abortion restrictions across the country.
Harris told reporters that she “found it to be quite bizarre” when Trump said during an all-women Fox News town hall that aired Wednesday morning, “I’m the father of IVF.”
“He should take responsibility for the fact that one in three women in America lives in a Trump’s abortion ban state,” Harris said Wednesday while departing Detroit. “What he should take responsibility for is that couples who are praying and hoping and working towards growing a family have been so disappointed and harmed by the fact that IVF treatments have now been put at risk.”
She argued that his appointment of Supreme Court justices who voted for Roe v. Wade to be overruled undermined his claim.
“Let’s not be distracted by his choice of words,” she said. “Reality is, his actions have been very harmful to women and families in America.”
In a Harris campaign press release after the town hall aired, the campaign pointed to his “father of IVF” remarks as an “example of exactly why women don’t trust him” more broadly on reproductive health issues.
Trump had made the comments on IVF during a town hall event that was taped on Tuesday but aired on Wednesday.
“I’m the father of IVF, so I want to hear this question,” Trump said when the moderator pointed him to the next voter to ask a question.
Trump also said during the town hall that “we’re totally in favor of IVF.”
He previously said in an interview with NBC News that if he is elected, his administration would have the government or insurance companies foot the bill for the procedure.
When reached for comment on Harris’ remarks, Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said that Trump’s comments about being “the father of IVF” were “a joke.”
“It was a joke President Trump made in jest when he was enthusiastically answering a question about IVF as he strongly supports widespread access to fertility treatments for women and families. The media should get a sense of humor,” Leavitt said.
During the same town hall, Trump again praised abortion becoming an issue that’s decided at the state level rather than the federal level after the Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade, ending the federal protections that had been in place for decades.
“What we were able to do is through, really the courage of six Supreme Court justices, we were able to do this after years and years of turmoil,” Trump said during the town hall. “Now it’s back in the states.”
After the end of Roe v. Wade, abortion has been banned, restricted or become unavailable in more than 20 states, according to an analysis by NBC News using data from the Center for Reproductive Rights.
IVF was launched into the campaign spotlight in February, when the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that embryos created through IVF are children, leading to multiple clinics pausing these fertility services.
The court ruling caused swift backlash, and ultimately the state legislature passed a bill to protect IVF, which the governor signed into law in March.
Congressional Democrats and some Republicans have tried multiple times to pass legislation to protect access to IVF on the federal level, but a majority of Republicans blocked the effort, arguing that it was unnecessary and politically motivated.
An NBC News poll conducted this month found a large gender gap heading into the 2024 election, with women favoring Harris by a 14-point margin and men favoring Trump by a 16-point margin. The same poll found that abortion was the top motivating issue for voters — an issue that 53% registered voters thought Harris would handle better, compared to 34% of registered voters who selected Trump.
Isabelle Schmeler contributed.
