Pete Buttigieg – Photo: Pod Save America YouTube Screenshot
“I was always for IVF. Right from the beginning, as soon as we heard about it.… We’re doing this because we just think it’s great. And we need great children, beautiful children in our country, we actually need them,” President Donald Trump said in an August 2024 NBC News interview as he mounted his reelection bid.
He pledged to support free in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments, a promise that came just months after the Alabama Supreme Court controversially ruled that frozen embryos created through IVF should be considered “children” under state law.
In February 2025, Trump signed an executive order directing officials to deliver recommendations within 90 days on protecting IVF access and reducing treatment costs. But the deadline passed with no action, leaving his campaign promise appearing abandoned.
Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was not pleased and quick to condemn the reversal.
Truly being “pro-family” means ensuring access and cost of care – including IVF – never stands in the way of someone choosing to start or grow their family.
Trump breaking his promise about something as important as this might not be surprising, but it is cruel. pic.twitter.com/N7pJD1tLIn
“Truly being ‘pro-family’ means ensuring access and cost of care – including IVF – never stands in the way of someone choosing to start or grow their family,” wrote Buttigieg in an August 14 post on X. “Trump breaking his promise about something as important as this might not be surprising, but it is cruel.”
The criticism came just days after Buttigieg had praised Trump’s pledge to require insurance companies to cover IVF during a “Pod Save America” interview.
“I mean, if we’re really serious about being pro-family, then we need to make sure that we support that,” Buttigieg told podcast co-host Jon Favreau. “And that means making sure whether it’s a system of direct government support or ensuring [it’s] part of what you can get from private health care.”
CNN reports that more than 8 million babies have been born through IVF, accounting for about 2% of U.S. births. The procedure — removing an egg and fertilizing it in a lab before implantation — has transformed lives worldwide.
Yet IVF remains costly and out of reach for many without insurance coverage. KFF reports that most patients pay out of pocket, often well over $10,000. For LGBTQ couples, the path is even harder, as state laws and insurance rules frequently make fertility coverage an even greater financial burden.
As Trump’s second term continues, critics argue his failure to act on IVF access undercuts his claims of being “great for women and their reproductive rights.”
A new study has found that companies that retained their diversity, equity, and inclusion policies or rejected anti-DEI shareholder resolutions performed just as well financially as those that rolled back their policies.
After taking office last year, President Donald Trump issued an executive order ending diversity, equity, and inclusion policies in the federal government and among federal contractors. The order also encouraged -- but did not require -- private-sector businesses to abandon DEI policies governing hiring, management, contracting, and suppliers.
Jay Katari, a board member of equalpride, the parent company of several prominent LGBTQ publications, has resigned following reports that he had expressed support for President Donald Trump and the MAGA movement.
A straight man, Katari was appointed to equalpride's board of directors by its lead investor group in late August 2026 to serve as a "strategic advisor" for "growth and innovation."
Katari was tasked with helping the company "expand its reach," build commercial partnerships, develop recurring revenue, and guide its transformation from a traditional media company into a platform offering "products, services, and experiences for the LGBTQ+ community and its allies," as reported by Kevin Ortega-Rojas on the Here's Why with Kevin Ortega-Rojas Substack.
President Donald Trump falsely claimed on Friday that American hospitals are performing "reverse surgery" on transgender people at his direction.
"ospitals now are doing reverse surgery at my order," Trump told supporters during an August 21 rally for Republican U.S. Senate candidate Darline Graham at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center in South Carolina. "They're doing reverse surgery. Nobody ever heard about it."
It is unclear what Trump meant. Upon taking office last year, he issued an executive order prohibiting federal funds from being used to cover gender-affirming treatments for people under age 19.
You must be logged in to post a comment.