WASHINGTON — Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth (Ill.) is calling on President-elect Donald Trump to weigh in on her proposal to cover in-vitro fertilization treatments for the military after dubbing himself “the father of IVF” on the campaign trail.
Duckworth, an Army veteran who conceived both her children through IVF, penned Trump a letter on Wednesday asking him to help ensure her provision of the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act makes it into the final law — which is expected to pass before he even takes office in January.
The NDAA is the annual law that sets the Pentagon’s spending and policy priorities for each coming year.
“Although the NDAA will be finalized by the 118th Congress, the fate of one key provision in H.R. 8070, the House-passed NDAA, will make or break your ability to fulfill your election night pledge to ‘…govern by a simple motto: promises made, promises kept,’” she told the president-elect in a letter first obtained by Politico.
“Specifically, I am referring to your bold campaign promise on in vitro fertilization. I believe you are the first presidential candidate in the history of our Nation to promise the American people that, if elected: ‘Your government will pay for, or your insurance company will be mandated to pay for, all costs associated with IVF treatment.’”
Duckworth has been an avid proponent of fertility treatment coverage, authoring legislation that would require insurance companies to pay for the treatments, which would also “require the Federal Government [to] cover IVF through the Veterans Health Administration,” she said in her letter.
However, the senator will need help from GOP senators to get the provision passed, so Duckworth reached out to Trump to enlist his support.
“As the leader of the Republican Party, it would be appropriate for you to exercise your influence to prevent Congressional Republicans from undermining your ability to govern by your own ‘promises made, promises kept’ motto before your second term even begins,” she wrote.
Duckworth further reminded him that “many Republican members of Congress publicly dismissed” his IVF campaign promise — and revealed that “behind-the-scenes negotiations on NDAA threaten to force you to back down on your promise to cover the costs of IVF for all Americans.”
“One of the few Republican Members of Congress audacious enough to go on the record opposing your pro-family view on IVF voted against passing the NDAA, saying he could not support TRICARE covering IVF services for U.S. service members and military families because he believes it is a ‘life-destroying practice,’” she said, without revealing the politician’s name.
TRICARE is the federal government’s health insurance plan for troops and their families.
“Covering IVF for members of the U.S. Armed Forces and military families should boast unanimous support from Democrats and Republicans alike — especially given your clear and repeated declaration that Americans will be able to access IVF at no cost. Period,” she said.
Duckworth also argued that the snag in passage could be overcome by “a clear and simple declaration of your support for preserving” the provision, as she believed it would be enough “to ensure the Republican Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Republican Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee are loyal to you and your ability to fulfill your … promise.”
“Thank you for taking this bold stance for our service members and their families, who deserve nothing less,” she added.
