Several Catholic bishops denounced the Trump administration’s effort to expand access to in vitro fertilization, commonly referred to as IVF.
In a statement released Friday, three top bishops from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said they “strongly reject” IVF and other fertility treatments that “freeze or destroy precious human beings and treat them like property.”
“Without diminishing the dignity of people born through IVF, we must recognize that children have a right to be born of a natural and exclusive act of married love, rather than a business’s technological intervention,” the statement said. “And harmful government action to expand access to IVF must not also push people of faith to be complicit in its evils.”
The bishops said they would continue to review the new policies announced by the Trump administration and want to engage further with the administration and Congress.
It was co-authored by Bishop Robert F. Barron, Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades and Bishop Daniel E. Thomas.
On Thursday, President Donald Trump shared his administration was making a deal with pharmaceutical company EMD Serono to reduce the cost of fertility drugs.
It was a large move after Trump promised to address IVF access while campaigning last year. He signed an executive order on IVF shortly after taking office.
“For years, American couples struggling with infertility have faced crushing costs in their quest to start a family, and IVF is among the most expensive treatments of all,” Trump said.
IVF was thrown into national conversation in early 2024, when the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos used in the procedure are considered children. It sparked bipartisan criticism and vows to protect the fertility treatment.