Everything RFK Said About Abortion Before He Fell in Line With Trump

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s stance on abortion has seemingly shifted during his time as a politician, which lawmakers hope to clarify before they decide whether or not to confirm him to be the next Secretary of Health and Human Services.

After RFK Jr. announced his campaign for president in April 2023, voters have had questions about whether or not he would support a national abortion ban after the landmark decision of Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022.

In August 2023, Kennedys told an NBC reporter, "I believe a decision to abort a child should be up to the women during the first three months of life." However, a spokesperson for his campaign later told NBC News that he had "misunderstood" the question, and that Kennedy "does not support legislation banning abortion."

Days later, in a notice shared to his campaign website, Kennedy's team wrote that he believed that decisions regarding abortion and pregnancy "should be up to the mother." Although he called abortion a "tragedy" in the same announcement, he reiterated that he believes in "choice and medical freedom."

RFK Jr. shocked voters when he said agrees with abortion "even if it's full-term" during a podcast interview with former ESPN host Sage Steele in May 2024. While he added that he does not believe that full-term abortions are "OK," he said they should "leave it to the women rather than the state."

However, when RFK Jr.'s running mate Nicole Shanahan appeared on the same podcast, she appeared surprised by his answer, and reiterated that she believed Kennedy viewed abortion as "a tragedy."

"My understanding is that he absolutely believes in limits on abortion, and we've talked about this. I do not think, I don't know where that came from," she told Steele.

Following the confusion regarding his stance, Kennedy posted a long statement to X trying to clear up his position. He again reiterated that he was for "medical freedom" and believed in trusting "women's maternal instincts."

But this time, RFK Jr. walked back his statement supporting late-term abortions, writing, "Once the baby is viable outside the womb, it should have rights and it deserves society's protection."

About a week later, Kennedy's campaign later clarified once again that they do not support federal limits on abortion, but do believe that "the cutoff should be at fetal viability," after Shanahan said during an appearance on the "Cartier Family" podcast that they supported "limits" of "between 15 and 18 weeks" on abortion, CNN reported.

In June 2024, Kennedy took to Facebook to discuss his stance on abortion, which contained similar language to the May statement he made to X.

"I support the emerging consensus that abortion should be unrestricted up until a certain point. I believe that point should be when a baby is viable outside the womb," RFK Jr. said in the video.

Since Kennedy dropped out of the race for president and endorsed President Donald Trump, several U.S. lawmakers have said that Kennedy's position on abortion was now more reflective of Trump's stance on abortion.

Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley said in a post to X in December 2024 that RFK Jr. would look to "reinstate President Trump's pro-life policies" if he was to be confirmed as the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

"He has been moderate on that in the past, and now he's gonna align himself, by choice, with President Trump on pro-life policies," North Carolina Sen. Ted Budd told NPR recently.

Originally published by Latin Times.