MONTPELLIER, FRANCE — In vitro fertilization, a procedure first used more than 45 years ago, has suddenly become the topic of political debate on both sides of the Atlantic — but for wildly different reasons.
In France, President Emmanuel Macron’s government is eyeing policies to promote the use of assisted reproductive technology, including IVF, to increase the nation’s declining birth rate. But French feminist groups say the proposal unduly inserts the government into private lives of women. They also worry that nationalist sentiment is driving the effort to boost birth rates.
The political fault lines look quite different in the U.S. where conservatives are the primary obstacle to IVF access. Despite former President Donald Trump’s endorsement of IVF this month, the fertility treatment has left many ultraconservative and evangelical conservatives conflicted, particularly when it comes to the disposal of unused embryos.
