House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana is allegedly working behind the scenes to get rid of a provision mandating health care coverage for assisted reproductive technology, including in vitro fertilization (IVF), for all active-duty service members from the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
That is according to U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), who told Military.com that Johnson is targeting TRICARE—the insurance plan for service members and their families outside of military facilities that covers IVF for everyone regardless of health situations. MS Now first reported the story.
If the provision is stripped from the final version of the NDAA, it would prevent the expansion of IVF access to all servicemembers. Current insurance plans through TRICARE only cover fertility services for service members whose infertility was caused by “a serious or severe illness or injury while on active duty.”
Johnson 'Out of Touch'
Duckworth, a disabled U.S. Army veteran who struggled with infertility for a decade before she used IVF to conceive her daughters, wrote in a post on X that Johnson’s alleged intentions equate to “single-handedly trying to kill” the provision that both the House and Senate previously supported in negotiations.
“This is yet another excuse from Speaker Mike Johnson in a pathetic attempt to carry out his extreme, right-wing belief that considers hopeful parents who depend on IVF—and their doctors—as murderers,” Duckworth told Military.com. “His views are completely out of touch with the vast majority of Americans who support access to IVF, including his own president.
“He needs to stop getting between [President Donald] Trump and his promise to the American people, fall in line, and help ensure our heroes get the same access to IVF coverage as members of Congress already receive. Anything less is hypocrisy at its worst.”
“This is yet another excuse from Speaker Mike Johnson in a pathetic attempt to carry out his extreme, right-wing belief that considers hopeful parents who depend on IVF—and their doctors—as murderers."
A spokesperson for Johnson told MS Now that he, the GOP are working to expand IVF and that “the Speaker has clearly and repeatedly stated he is supportive of access to IVF when sufficient pro-life protections are in place, and he will continue to be supportive when it is done responsibly and ethically."
Military.com reached out to Johnson’s office for comment.
Danielle Melfi, CEO of RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association, told Military.com that "removing the IVF coverage provision from the NDAA would deny coverage to the very families who have sacrificed so much for our country.
"Stripping this language, which had bipartisan support, would once again leave servicemembers without the same care that members of Congress and their staff have," Melfi said. "Moreover, this action would run counter to President Trump’s public commitment to expand access to IVF.
“Americans overwhelmingly support access to IVF. Standing with our troops means ensuring they have the full range of medical care needed to build their families. We urge Speaker Johnson and congressional leadership to keep this provision and align the NDAA with the values of the American people and the administration.”
Speaker's Past IVF Remarks
Speaker Johnson has been asked about IVF before, including in March 2024 after Alabama Republican Gov. Kay Ivey signed legislation protecting IVF providers from legal liability. The issue caused consternation before and after the fact considering that Alabama’s Supreme Court said in a prior ruling that embryos could be considered children under state law.
Johnson told CBS Mornings at the time that Alabama “has done a good job” of grappling with the issue.
"We need to look at the ethics surrounding that issue, but it's an important one," Johnson said. "If you do believe that life begins at conception, it's a really important question to wrestle with."
The pro-life advocate mentioned his position in support of the "sanctity of life" as well as IVF, adding that states must consider the "ethical handling" of IVF.
"In some states, like in Louisiana, there's a limit on the number of embryos that can be created because they're sensitive to that issue," he added.
Trump's IVF Expansion
The claimed impending stripping down of the TRICARE provision would be antithetical to what President Trump campaigned on leading up to the 2024 election.
As recently as October, the president announced his intent to further lower costs and expand access to IVF when he said EMD Serono, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of fertility medications, had reached an agreement with the White House to provide “massive cost savings on fertility treatments” for all Americans.
The agreement includes EMD Serono, for the first time, investing in related manufacturing within the United States. The announcement made no direct mention to IVF and its fiscal ties to the U.S. military and/or its active-duty members.
A Biden-era Defense Department policy in March 2024 expanded TRICARE eligibility for infertility treatments to unmarried service members and those needing donated eggs or sperm, adding onto a previous policy when the DoD only offered such treatments to certain married service members.
Eggs or sperm donated by a third party were also prohibited by DoD at that juncture, effectively barring same-sex couples from the benefit.
“Trump touted himself as the Father of IVF both on the campaign trail and in office,” Duckworth told MS Now. “Time and time again, as recently as October, he’s promised that he would cover IVF for American families — but apparently not military families.”
Military.com reached out to the White House for comment.
Military Veterans Affected by Infertility
The National Health Study for a New Generation of U.S. Veterans, a 2014 study of 60,000 Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), and OEF/OIF-era veterans, is one of the largest scientific research studies of this group of veterans and included input from roughly 20,500 veterans. Data remains featured on the Department of Veterans Affairs website.
It found that of those veterans who served during those periods, 15.8% of women and 13.8% of men reported that they had experienced infertility—defined as attempts with a partner to get pregnant for more than 12 months.
While assessing rates of comparison between the general population and military service members is acknowledged within the study as a difficult task due to the intricacies associated with infertility, they did note that female veterans were more likely to seek care for infertility than male veterans.
Also, approximately 40% of men and women Veterans with a history of infertility reported that they or their partner sought infertility treatment.
“Attacking active servicemembers’ access to IVF and fertility treatments is a new and cowardly low, even for Speaker Johnson,” Amy Williams Navarro, director of government relations for Reproductive Freedom for All, said in a statement. “It’s a cruel irony that Johnson, who has always publicly claimed to support and protect servicemembers, is now working behind the scenes to take IVF coverage away from the people who bravely serve our country.”
UPDATED 12/4/25, 12:22 p.m. ET: This story was updated with remarks from Danielle Melfi.
