The "fertilitization president" is f*cking lying to you
The White House war on women's health is hiding in plain sight.
Hi. It’s Micah and this is your newsletter (and podcast) revealing the taboo topics of women’s brains, bodies, and healthcare.
Honestly, you can’t make this shit up:
On March 26, 2025, at a White House celebration of Women’s History Month, Donald Trump declared himself the “fertilization president.”
On April 7, 2025, his administration (DOGE) fired the entire team at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in charge of researching IVF safety and efficacy.
On April 22, the NIH gutted — then, maybe, restored? — funding for the Women’s Health Initiative, the first and longest-running study on women’s bone health, hormones, and clinical trials.
Last week, the White House solicited pitches for ways to incentivize American women to have more babies. A lump sum? A National Medal of Honor for moms of 6+?
It so incongruent it is laughable.
If you believe he’s the “fertilization president,” you should know he’s f*cking lying to you.
You can’t be the ‘fertility president’ while making reproduction less safe.
You probably know someone who’s done IVF. Maybe you used IVF, IUI, or an egg donor.
If so, you may know that these procedures are complex, involved, and have a relatively low rate of success. It is critical that people investing in ART (assisted reproductive technology) know what they’re getting into, who they’re trusting with their bodies, and their chances of failure.
The team at the CDC just axed by DOGE was in charge of tracking these very things. Their data fueled this page, which helps people find the best clinics in their area.
We NEED government oversight for reproductive technology. Some facets of it don’t have much oversight at all, like the egg donation industry, which runs largely unregulated, and leaves behind a lot of casualties (more on that in the future).
Trump’s administration poses as “pro-family” while deconstructing systems families need.
America’s birth rate is in decline, worries the pro-natalist crowd.
But birth givers in the US are more than just broodmares. Being pro-family must, at least to some degree, mean being pro-woman. And that means offering substantive support, like:
guaranteed paid leave
comprehensive sex ed
affordable childcare
While Trump’s administration poses as pro-family, it:
erased federal guidance on birth control
cut $65 million+ in funding for family planning under Title X
limited the enforcement of the FACE Act, which protects all patients, providers, and facilities that provide reproductive health services
threatens the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act
prevented funding for reproductive healthcare
confirms appointees who actively harm women’s health, like AG Pam Bondi, who has falsely claimed that a majority of women have abortions under pressure and has been critical of protections to accessing contraception
tried to kill the country’s largest women’s health research initiative
silenced language like “gender-based violence” and “racism in health” (while Black women are at highest risk of maternal mortality)
proposed cuts to Medicaid, which is the only way for millions of low-income Americans to access affordable preventative, sexual, and reproductive healthcare
undermined life-saving data collection on women’s health, like the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS)
… to name a few.
I know Elon Musk has copped to wanting a harem of women and legion of children (he has fourteen thus far), but that’s not the type of “family value” America needs.
This is not about fertility. This is about control.
This administration’s policies seek to control, not support women.
Take, for example, the potential for government-funded menstrual education. Sounds nice, right? But what does this mean coming from a pro-natalist president?
We are watching them strip science, oversight, and autonomy, all critical for reproductive healthcare and ART like IVF, and the systems that keep pregnancy and childbirth safer and survivable.
Donald Trump as “the fertilization president” is a hollow performance.
His self-proclaimed title masks a pattern of policy rollbacks — dismantling fertility oversight, erasing evidence-based women’s health guidance, and silencing research on maternal mortality and gender-based violence — that undermine women’s health and their ability to have and raise children.
What you can do about it:
Support organizations protecting reproductive rights, like the Center for Reproductive Rights, the ACLU, If/When/How: Lawyering for Reproductive Justice, National Network of Abortion Funds
Contact Your Representatives
→ Demand federal protections for IVF oversight, maternal health funding, and access to evidence-based birth control. Mention the CDC ART Surveillance program and the Women’s Health Initiative specifically.Vote Down-Ballot
→ Research candidates’ records on reproductive justice; state and local officials shape healthcare access, funding, and curriculum.
Phew. That’s a lot, I know.
But — even though this feels like a powerless situation — we do have power.
Does this post resonate with you? Are you angry about the treatment of reproductive healthcare?
Tell me in the comments; I read every single one:
Up next: S1E22 Menopause x Misogyny x Body Image with Sonia Voldseth of
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Talk soon,
Micah
