Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. assured Republican Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford during his confirmation hearing on Wednesday that he would follow President Donald Trump’s policies on abortion if confirmed.
Kennedy, during his presidential campaign, expressed support for abortion “even if it’s full-term,” and said that he “wouldn’t leave it to the states” before appearing to walk back his position shortly after. The nominee, at the Senate Finance Committee hearing, clarified that he would “implement” Trump’s pro-life agenda, including leaving abortion regulation to individual states.
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“I’m going to support President Trump’s policies on Title X. 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,” Kennedy told Lankford. “President Trump has told me that he wants to end late term abortions and he wants to protect conscience exemptions and that he wants to end federal funding for abortions here or abroad, that’s Title X. I serve at the pleasure of the president. I’m going to implement his policies. Thank you for that.
Former President Joe Biden’s administration in October 2021 revoked a rule that barred Title X federal family planning aid from going to health centers that performed or referred abortions.
Lankford also asked Kennedy if healthcare providers should “have the right of conscience” to refuse operations they morally oppose.
“Yeah, I mean 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 — that surgery’s against their conscience being forced to perform that? I don’t know anybody who would want to have that, have a doctor performing a surgery that the doctor is morally opposed to,” Kennedy said. “Listen, 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 that we could do that nationally. And if forcing somebody to participate in a medical procedure as a provider that they believe is murder does not make any sense to me,” he continued. “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.”
Finally, Lankford asked Kennedy whether the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would be transparent about the side effects of “the chemical abortion drug.”
“Yeah, I mean it’s against everything we believe in 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,” Kennedy answered. “And President Trump has made it clear to me that one of the things he is not taking 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’ll ask NIH [National Institutes of Health] and FDA to do that.”
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