Robert F Kennedy Jr, Donald Trump’s nominee for health secretary, faced questions about his flip-flopping on reproductive rights in a US Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday.
Kennedy identified as “pro-choice” during his presidential campaign as a Democrat, but said repeatedly in Wednesday’s hearing for secretary of health and human services (HHS) that he agreed with 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,” Kennedy said in response to questions from Senator James Lankford, a Republican from Oklahoma, where abortion is banned.
“I serve at the pleasure of the president. I’m going to implement his policies,” he continued.
Kennedy also reassured Republicans in private conversations that he had changed his position on the issue. In December, Josh Hawley, a Republican senator of Missouri, said that Kennedy had told him he would “reinstate President Trump’s pro-life policies at HHS”.
Key to Kennedy’s testimony was the pledge to investigate the safety of mifepristone, one drug in a so-called medication abortion. The drug has been the focus of attacks by anti-abortion campaigners since the fall of Roe v Wade, and is now the most common way to end a pregnancy.
The drug has been extensively investigated for safety, and it is found to have fewer adverse outcomes than acetaminophen (paracetamol), a common over-the-counter pain reliever. Key studies that supported a recent supreme court case over mifepristone’s approval in the early 2000s have been retracted.
“We need to understand the safety of every drug – mifepristone and every other drug,” Kennedy said, adding that Trump had not yet taken a position on the medication, but that he had made it clear to Kennedy that he “wants me to look at the safety issues”.
Democrats produced placards of Kennedy’s past pro-choice statements, including one campaign statement reported by the Hill that read: “Mr Kennedy’s position on abortion is that it is always a woman’s right to choose. He does not support legislation banning abortion.”
“I have never seen any major politician flip on that issue quite as quickly as you did when Trump asked you to become HHS secretary,” Bernie Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont who caucuses with Democrats, told Kennedy.
Sanders asked, rhetorically: “Tell me why you think people should have confidence in your consistency and in your work when you really made a major U-turn on an issue of that importance?”
Maggie Hassan, a Democratic senator of New Hampshire, suggested she and Kennedy actually agreed on the issue of abortion access, citing and referencing his many past comments in support of reproductive rights. As she questioned Kennedy, Hassan’s staff displayed posters that highlighted his previous remarks in support of abortion access.
One poster quoted Kennedy saying: “I’m pro-choice … I don’t think the government has any business telling people what they can or cannot do with their body.”
after newsletter promotion
“You said that, right?” Hassan asked Kennedy, to which he replied: “Yes.”
“It is remarkable that you have such a long record of fighting for women’s reproductive freedom and really great that my Republican colleagues are so open to voting for a pro-choice HHS secretary,” Hassan said.
She then asked Kennedy: “You have clearly stated in the past that bodily autonomy is one of your core values. The question is: do you stand for that value or not? When was it that you decided to sell out the values you’ve had your whole life in order to be given power by President Trump?”
Kennedy reiterated: “Senator, I agree with President Trump that every abortion is a tragedy.”
Jessica Glenza and Joanie Greve contributed reporting
