Senate Republicans are signaling that they’re open to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to steer the Division of Well being and Human Providers (HHS) regardless of his long-standing help of abortion rights and issues emanating from anti-abortion voices about his choice.
A number of main anti-abortion figures and outfits have expressed issues about Kennedy. However whereas Senate Republicans say they’ve questions for Kennedy on the subject of abortion, additionally they point out that they may find yourself backing him largely out of deference to President-elect Trump.
“Donald Trump was elected to shake up things [from] Washington business as usual, and I think that’s the type of nominees he’s picking,” mentioned Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.), a member of the Senate Well being, Training, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee. “President Trump is pro-life, so I don’t think there’ll be any question with those who ultimately affect policy.”
Kennedy, the one-time presidential candidate, sought the HHS submit and has pushed to “make America healthy again” if he’s given the nod by the higher chamber within the coming months.
He has obstacles to beat, headlined by his stance on vaccines and his name to take away fluoride from ingesting water — two strikes that might come beneath intense opposition.
Nevertheless it’s his abortion-rights stance that’s most anathema to Republican orthodoxy after the social gathering helped cement the 6-3 conservative majority on the Supreme Court docket that overturned Roe v. Wade two years in the past.
Some Senate Republicans have indicated that they count on Kennedy to be scrutinized on that matter particularly when he meets behind closed doorways with Senate Republicans individually and through his potential affirmation hearings after Christmas.
“That is a list of question’s I’m going to have for him during the confirmation process,” mentioned Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), one of many foremost anti-abortion Senate Republicans. “The Trump administration was pretty clear and consistent on all of those life issues at HHS in the first administration. I would assume they’ll be just as clear in the second one.”
The newly minted member of GOP management famous that it’s not simply Kennedy he’ll be taking a look at via this lens, including that the eventual Meals and Drug Administration commissioner nominee will face related questions on the subject.
He additionally signaled that he expects the Senate GOP convention to care extra broadly about Kennedy’s stance on abortion.
“That’s a core issue at HHS,” Lankford mentioned. “That’s entirely appropriate for us to get a chance to talk about it.”
It’s not simply Senate Republicans who acknowledge the significance of the problem. Kennedy himself has privately acknowledged that he should navigate the problem successfully to win the requisite 51 votes.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), a high Trump ally, advised The Hill that he and Kennedy mentioned his leanings on abortion rights, with the ex-presidential candidate noting that he’s attempting to additional Trump’s priorities, not his personal.
“He says: ‘You know my position on it. But I’m also serving at the will of the president of the United States and representing his administration, and I respect that position,’” Mullin mentioned of Kennedy.
“So that should be good enough for most people,” Mullin added. “There’s people who have different opinions in our conference too who are still Republicans.”
This has not stopped some main anti-abortion figures from calling on members to spike Kennedy’s nomination. Former Vice President Mike Pence railed about Kennedy’s stance and at the concept somebody with these leanings would lead HHS beneath a Republican president.
“I believe the nomination of RFK Jr. to serve as Secretary of HHS is an abrupt departure from the pro-life record of our administration and should be deeply concerning to millions of Pro-Life Americans who have supported the Republican Party and our nominees for decades,” Pence mentioned in a press release.
Nonetheless, most anti-abortion teams aren’t following his lead. As a substitute, they’ve indicated that they’re keen to offer him some grace and received’t slam the door in his face on the outset.
“Lime many newcomers to the conservative pro-life movement, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. needs further education on the reality of abortion and its harmful effects on children, women, public health and our nation,” mentioned John Mize, CEO of Individuals United for Life.
Mize pointed to Kennedy’s feedback throughout the Iowa state truthful final yr that he supported a federal abortion ban at 15 to 21 weeks of being pregnant as an “encouraging” signal that he’ll proceed to take steps that align with the anti-abortions motion.
Throughout his long-shot presidential bid, Kennedy mentioned on the 2023 Iowa state truthful that he would help a federal abortion ban after the primary three months of being pregnant if he had been elected president. He shortly tried to backtrack on his feedback and posted on the social media platform X that he believed abortion ought to be unrestricted till the purpose of fetal viability or round 24 weeks of being pregnant.
“I’ve been a medical freedom advocate for my entire career and have fought for bodily autonomy, and I trust women’s maternal instincts,” he wrote.
“What if the baby has some fatal condition that ensures it will survive just hours or days after birth in intense suffering? Can we, should we, legislate such painful decisions and take them away from the mother? Is a bureaucrat or judge better equipped than the baby’s own mother to decide?”
Kennedy’s marketing campaign additionally launched a press release explaining that he had misunderstood the questions requested by the reporter, blaming the miscommunication on the “crowded” and “noisy” truthful corridor.
Kristan Hawkins, president of College students for Life Motion, mentioned the group is wanting ahead to talking with Kennedy about his promise to “make America healthy again” and the way his plan to take action addresses abortion.
“RFK Jr. has a proven track record of holding health care bureaucrats accountable for putting public health first, over political interests,” Hawkins advised The Hill. “There is no more weaponized agency than HHS, where whatever is good for the Democrats’ big donor — Planned Parenthood — gets fast-tracked.”
Kennedy might want to win the belief of some extra skeptical members of the anti-abortion motion if he desires to safe his affirmation as HHS secretary, nonetheless.
“I admire RFK Jr., but he won’t get confirmed if he clings to abortion after Kamala Harris’s historic failure to sell it as a winning issue. … Just as he bailed on other out-of-touch Democratic positions, he must abandon his outdated stance on abortion,” mentioned Shawn Carney, the CEO and president of 40 Days for Life.
“You can’t crusade against Snickers bars in the name of health while discarding the unborn. It’s inconsistent, unbelievable, and out of step with the pro-life majority,” he added.
