WASHINGTON - Pressure from the anti-abortion movement has thwarted federal financing for research into in-vitro fertilization and other methods used to assist infertile couples, according to a congressional report released Saturday.

The report, compiled by the House Government Operations subcommittee on human resources and intergovernmental relations, accused the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) of ignoring the ``major health problem`` of infertility for more than a decade.

Subcommittee Chairman Ted Weiss, D-N.Y., said infertile couples ``are spending their life savings on treatment that doesn't work because the federal government has not been willing to study infertility treatment the way it studies treatment for every other disease.