Conservative detractors of President Donald Trump’s nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for the role of Health and Human Services Secretary point to Kennedy’s past stances and statements about abortion. Stances and statements that he has modulated in recent days. Here is what Kennedy said on the matter in July 2024, two months before suspending his presidential campaign.
Abortion has been a notoriously divisive issue in America, but actually I see an emerging consensus: that abortion should be legal up until a certain number of weeks, and restricted thereafter. Even in the reddest of red states, voters reject total abortion bans. And in blue states, almost no one supports third-trimester abortions except to save the life of the mother. And so I support the emerging consensus that abortion should be unrestricted up until a certain point.
But I also believe that we can reduce more abortions in America by choice than by force. This is at the heart of the “More Choices, More Life” policy we’ve developed. Every abortion is a tragedy, and by better supporting mothers, parents, and families, we can dramatically reduce abortions across the board.
During Kennedy’s Wednesday confirmation hearing, Sen. Jim Lankford (R-OK) confronted him on how he would handle the Health and Human Services Department Title 10 mandates and funding. While Title 10 was implemented in 1970 to address maternal and child health outcomes, under Democrat administrations, it has been used as a funding tool for Planned Parenthood and for the promotion of abortion and abortion services. It has also been used by Democrat administrations as a cudgel against any stand for life, particularly under the Biden-Harris administration.
Biden’s incompetent and unqualified HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra used Title 10 to promote abortion tourism in the military, and to promote and push abortion services through any program that received HHS funding. It became a mandate, and if states did not toe the line, they were penalized. Lankford related the story about how Oklahoma would not promote abortion services in its medical services, so Becerra removed federal funding for AIDS testing, breast cancer screening, and “other areas of poverty healthcare.” Lankford asked, “How are you going to handle Title 10 on that?”
Kennedy responded, articulating that he would support Trump’s policies and outlining where they agree on the issue of abortion.
I’m going to support President Trump’s policies on Title 10. I agree with President Trump that every abortion is a tragedy. I agree with him that we cannot be a moral nation if we have 1.2 million abortions a year. I agree with him that the states should control abortion. President Trump has told me he wants to end late-term abortion, he wants to protect conscience exemptions, and that he wants to end federal funding for abortions here and abroad as Title 10 states. I serve at the pleasure of the president, I’m going to implement his policies.
Lankford further pressed Kennedy on whether he would restore civil rights protections to medical professionals who used to have conscience exemptions under federal law. Through executive order, President Trump plans to restore the HHS Office of Civil Rights and Protections, which Biden-Harris did away with. Under Becerra’s HHS, the right of conscience exemptions for medical professionals was effectively stripped away and any petitions of that nature were ignored. Lankford asked, “Will you step in and say that healthcare individuals have the right of conscience again as the federal law allows?”
Kennedy responded:
The first thing that occurs to me when you ask that question is what patient would want somebody doing a surgery on them that believes the surgery is against their conscience being forced to perform that. I don’t know anybody who would want a doctor to perform a surgery that the doctor is morally opposed to.
Kennedy took his argument further: that recognition of conscience exemptions is a part of the diversity of thought that the country needs to return to.
Look, I came from a family that was split on life and choice. I have cousins today who believe that abortion at any stage is equivalent to homicide. Now there are other people who believe the opposite. But the good thing in my family that I really loved is that we were able to have those conversations and respect each other. And I wish we could do that nationally. Forcing somebody to participate in a medical procedure as a provider that they believe is murder does not make any sense to me. We need to welcome diversity in this country. We need to respect diversity and we need to respect each other when we have different opinions, and not force our opinions on other people.
Lankford’s final query involved Mifepristone, the so-called abortion pill. Under the Biden-Harris administration, the FDA changed its rules to allow the abortion pill to be distributed without medical oversight. Further, the FDA no longer requires medical providers or individuals to report data on the adverse effects of the drug. The FDA only wants reporting if the patient dies.
Lankford’s question:
LANKFORD: Will FDA move to be able to actually give transparency to the America people and to say, “this drug is no different than any other drug, we’re not going to protect it just because it’s political to some folks.” People should know side effects on this drug and there should be reporting?
KENNEDY: It’s against everything we believe in this country that patients or doctors should not be reporting adverse events. We need to know what adverse events are, we need to understand the safety of every drug, Mifepristone and every other drug. And President Trump has made it clear to me, one of the things, he has not taken a position yet on Mifepristone—a detailed position, but he’s made it clear to me that he wants me to look at the safety issues, and I will ask NIH/FDA to do that.
Past HHS secretaries, Democrat or Republican, have essentially followed through on their administration’s policies. While Kennedy’s answers may not satisfy staunch conservatives and pro-lifers, what is clear is that his primary focus is his desire to restore and preserve the health outcomes of all Americans, whether preborn or born, and to fulfill President Trump’s mandate to Make America Healthy Again.
