The government already tilts the scales in favor of low fertility.
By Ira Stoll Sept. 5, 2024 6:16 pm ET
Conservatives have greeted Donald Trump’s promise to require insurance companies to pay for in vitro fertilization, or for government to foot the bill, with doubts. Yet the proposal deserves a look.
Opinion: Potomac Watch
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Current government policy is tilted against having children. Federal law requires most health insurers to cover contraception at no cost to the patient. That includes birth-control pills, long-acting methods such as intrauterine devices, and often even surgical permanent sterilization methods like tubal ligation.
In a free-marketeer’s dream of the future, those regulations wouldn’t exist. Insurers could compete on price and coverage, though with the possible consequence of an increase in unwanted pregnancies. That future is a long way off. In the meantime, Mr. Trump’s idea would restore the federal government’s neutrality on the decision to start a family.
