Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said Sunday he and most other Republicans would be "open" to supporting former President Donald Trump's proposal to have either the government or insurance companies pay for in vitro fertilization services.
"It’s something I’m open to, that most Republicans would be open to," Cotton said in an interview on NBC News' "Meet the Press," adding that he would first need to "evaluate the fiscal impact" and consider "whether the taxpayer can afford to pay for this, what impact it would have on premiums."
"In principle, supporting couples who are trying to use IVF or other fertility treatments — I don’t think that’s controversial at all," he added.
His remarks come a few days after Trump told NBC News that if he is elected, his administration would "be mandating that the insurance company pay" for fertility services like IVF.
Pressed to clarify his plan in the interview, Trump said one option would be for insurance companies to be forced to pay for fertility services “under a mandate, yes.”
On Sunday, moderator Kristen Welker pressed Cotton about his support for Trump's plan, pointing out he voted this year against the Right to IVF Act, which would have mandated IVF coverage in federal health care plans, the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid plans.
Cotton slammed the bill, describing it as Senate Majority Leader "Chuck Schumer’s ridiculous messaging bill," adding that Schumer, D-N.Y., spent the last few months “slapping together ridiculous bills that he thinks are going to help his liberal incumbent senators face off in their elections."
Despite his vote against the Right to IVF Act in June, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Sunday that the GOP is not against IVF treatments and that he would support a means-tested tax credit for Americans using fertility treatments.
"I would support a tax credit, means-tested, kind of how we do with children," he said in an interview on ABC News' "This Week." "That makes sense to me, to encourage people to have children."
Asked where Trump’s new support for public funding and insurance mandates for IVF came from even though only two Republicans voted for the Right to IVF bill, Graham said that was just Trump “trying to show his support for IVF treatments.”
Graham, however, said he did not back Trump’s proposal to force insurance companies to cover the treatments, "because there is no end to that."
IVF has become an increasingly political issue, with Democrats blaming Republicans for threatening access to fertility and reproductive care.
Fertility clinics across Alabama paused their IVF care this year after the state Supreme Court ruled that embryos are people, sending fear among reproductive rights groups that abortion bans in states controlled by Republicans could affect other reproductive care in those states.
