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By Jenni Fink
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Leaders of a key part of President Donald Trump's political coalition are urging his administration to rethink a major proposal designed to expand access to fertility treatments, opening a new fault line between the White House's support for in vitro fertilization (IVF) and the leaders of one of the Republican Party's most important swing voting groups.
But the Trump administration's stance may be more in line with views of mainstream Catholics than those held by the bishops.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) submitted formal comments this week opposing portions of a proposed federal rule that would make it easier for employers to offer fertility benefits, including IVF coverage, as a separate category of health benefits. In a July 13 letter to federal regulators, the bishops argued that while infertility is a serious medical condition deserving treatment, IVF should not be included in the policy because it conflicts with Catholic teachings about human life and reproduction.
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The comments place the Catholic hierarchy at odds with one of Trump's most high-profile family-policy initiatives. Trump has repeatedly backed expanding access to IVF, arguing that fertility treatments can help address family-building challenges at a time when the United States is experiencing historically low birth rates.
Catholics played a significant role in Trump's 2024 victory, and he won a majority of Catholic voters nationwide. Yet the Catholic Church remains firmly opposed to IVF, setting up a potential clash between a Republican administration seeking to promote fertility treatments and influential religious leaders within its own voter base.
White House spokesperson Allison Schuster told Newsweek that the Trump administration is making it a "priority to address the infertility crisis at its core." She pointed to the MAHA Report, which outlined strategies to combat infertility through diet, reducing chemical exposure and through other means before going to IVF.
“President Trump promised to help American families struggling to have children, and his Administration has taken an aggressive approach to support family formation," Schuster said. "Never before has a President made such efforts to investigate the primary causes behind the infertility crisis.”
Why Are Catholic Bishops Opposed to IVF?
The Catholic Church's opposition to IVF is rooted in long-standing teachings about human life, marriage and reproduction.
In their submission, the bishops argued that IVF separates procreation from the marital act and results in the destruction or freezing of human embryos. The letter contends that many embryos created during IVF cycles never result in live births and that the process frequently involves selecting which embryos are implanted and which are discarded or frozen indefinitely.
The bishops also argued that IVF does not actually treat infertility itself. Instead, they described the procedure as bypassing underlying reproductive conditions rather than curing them.
Rather than IVF, the bishops urged the administration to promote what they call "restorative reproductive medicine," an approach focused on diagnosing and treating conditions that contribute to infertility, including hormonal disorders, endometriosis, polycystic ovary syndrome and other medical issues.
The filing praises portions of the proposed rule that would allow coverage for diagnostic services and treatments aimed at addressing root causes of infertility. The bishops encouraged regulators to strengthen those provisions while excluding IVF and other assisted reproductive technologies.
"One IVF clinic suggests that someone in their mid-thirties will need about 11 or 12 eggs, 80 percent of which are mature for fertilization, to achieve one live birth. In consideration of these numbers, promoting IVF thus stands in glaring contrast to this Administration’s other pro-life statements and actions," the bishops wrote in their letter.
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The bishops' position reflects official Catholic doctrine, which teaches that children should be conceived through the marital relationship rather than through laboratory procedures. While church leaders express compassion for couples dealing with infertility, they maintain that not every technological solution is morally acceptable.
Their opposition also extends beyond IVF itself. Catholic leaders have frequently raised concerns about embryo freezing, genetic screening of embryos and so-called "selective reduction" procedures when multiple embryos implant successfully.
How Important Are Catholics to Republicans?
The disagreement underscores the political significance of Catholic voters for Republicans.
Catholics have historically been one of the nation's most important swing voting blocs, often closely mirroring the broader electorate. But recent elections have shown a noticeable movement toward Republicans.
According to a Pew Research Center voter analysis released in 2025, Trump won approximately 55 percent of Catholic voters in the 2024 election, compared with 43 percent for then-Vice President Kamala Harris. That represented a significant shift from 2020, when the Catholic vote was nearly evenly divided between then-presidential candidate Joe Biden and Trump.
The political importance of Catholic voters extends beyond their numbers. Catholics make up roughly one-fifth of the U.S. electorate and have substantial influence in key battleground states, including Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan.
Many Catholic voters are drawn to Republican positions on abortion, religious liberty and other social issues. At the same time, Catholics are not politically monolithic. Surveys have found substantial differences between practicing Catholics who attend Mass regularly and Catholics who identify culturally with the faith but are less active in religious life.
The IVF debate illustrates the complexity of that coalition. Polling has generally found broad public support for IVF, including among many Republican voters. Some surveys have also shown support for IVF among rank-and-file Catholics, even though church leaders remain opposed.
Sixty-five percent of Catholics said IVF was a good thing in a Pew Research poll from 2024, and a study from 2025 found 83 percent of Catholics think the church should let couples use IVF. That support is higher among people who don't attend Mass frequently, but 71 percent of Catholics who attend church weekly support people undergoing IVF.
That creates a unique challenge for Trump. Expanding IVF access may be popular among the broader electorate and consistent with his efforts to address concerns about falling birth rates. Yet it places him at odds with Catholic bishops who share the administration's views on many other life and family issues, and that disagreement can trickle down through the church.
What Pope Leo Has Said About IVF
Pope Leo XIV has not made IVF a major focus of his papacy, but there is little indication that he intends to depart from traditional Catholic teachings on reproductive technologies.
Since becoming pope in 2025, Leo has repeatedly emphasized the importance of family life, fertility and openness to children. He has spoken about concerns surrounding declining birth rates and praised the role of marriage and parenthood in society.
While he has not issued a major standalone statement focused specifically on IVF, the Vatican's official position remains unchanged. Catholic teaching continues to hold that IVF is morally impermissible because it separates conception from the marital act and often results in the destruction or indefinite freezing of embryos.
Leo has also frequently cited the church's broader teachings on the dignity of human life and the importance of family relationships.
As a result, there is little expectation among Vatican observers that the current pope would support efforts to expand IVF access in ways that conflict with longstanding church doctrine.
That places the bishops' objections squarely within mainstream Catholic teaching rather than representing a uniquely American disagreement with the Trump administration.
What Trump's Proposed Rule Would Change About IVF
The proposed regulation does not create a federal IVF mandate. Instead, the rule would establish a new category of "excepted fertility benefits" that employers could choose to offer separately from traditional health insurance coverage.
Supporters say the change would make it easier for businesses to provide fertility-related benefits while potentially lowering administrative burdens associated with existing health-plan requirements. The proposal covers a broad range of fertility services, including diagnostic testing, treatments addressing medical causes of infertility and assisted reproductive technologies like IVF.
Administration officials have framed the effort as part of a broader push to support family formation and improve access to fertility care.
The bishops acknowledged that portions of the proposal could help families struggling with infertility. Their comments specifically praised language recognizing the importance of treating underlying reproductive health conditions and encouraging efforts to address the causes of infertility.
However, they argued that regulators should draw a distinction between fertility treatments that restore reproductive function and IVF procedures that bypass biological barriers to conception.
Whether federal agencies will modify the proposal remains unclear.
For now, the filing highlights a delicate political balancing act. Trump's administration continues to position itself as both pro-family and pro-IVF, while influential Catholic leaders are urging federal officials to steer fertility policy in a different direction. But based on polling among mainstream Catholics, it's possible that the Trump administration's position on IVF could win over more Catholics than it pushes away.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Edward T. Cummins.
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