RFK Jr. could pose a threat to abortion rights
The nominee for Secretary of the Department of Health & Human Services has waffled in his stance on abortion but has agreed to uphold Trump’s agenda.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation hearings for Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services have brought with it questions about his stance on abortion and what he would do with regulating mifepristone.
The stakes are high for the abortion rights movement. In a recent Supreme Court decision, Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, Justice Brett Kavanaugh indicated that the FDA could take a more stringent approach to the drug, which is the first in a two-pill regimen causing abortion. In a recent decision, the court dismissed the lawsuit, though a Texas judge substituted plaintiffs, which brings another round of appeals on the same issue.
The FDA is under the purview of the Department of Health & Human Services. So, Kennedy’s views on it and his decisions as its potential leader will significantly impact the reproductive care landscape.
“I very frustratingly watched this hearing,” Davis Moss said. “What came to mind is he’s not qualified. It's not a position to be taken likely if people's lives are at stake.”
In Project 2025, a right-wing manifesto released during the presidential campaign that shows the Republican agenda, one of the experts included was Roger Severino, the Office of Civil Rights director at the HHS during the Trump Administration. He called for the FDA to rescind approval of abortion medication.
The manifesto also calls for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is under HHS, to gather a variety of information on women who get abortions, including the reasons why they opted for one. That puts doctors in a position to ask the patient and record their reasoning or justification. They also want to fund studies with the desire to promote the benefits of childbirth and highlight the risks of abortions.
Kennedy has wavered in his stances on abortion. He has said that he supported abortion rights up to the point of fetal viability during his political campaign for president and before he pursued public office. In a May 2024 post on X, formerly known as Twitter, he echoed the Republican line about a “consensus,” which was coded language for a ban past a certain time in the pregnancy.
“I support the emerging consensus that abortion should be unrestricted up until a certain point. I believe that point should be when the baby is viable outside the womb,” he wrote. “Therefore, I would allow appropriate restrictions on abortion in the final months of pregnancy, just as Roe v. Wade did.”
During the hearing, he indicated he would uphold Trump’s antiabortion agenda and hire people who hold those views to shape the administration of his strategy. He described every abortion as a tragedy.
Davis Moss said that was just for political gain.
“There's no other way to try to guess why someone would abandon their values,” Davis Moss said. “He’s been saying that since 2023. You were a candidate, and then you changed political parties, and now you're changing your stance.”