13 questions HHS Secretary nominee Robert F. Kennedy needs to answer before confirmation

By Cassy Fiano-Chesser - Posted at LiveAction:

Published January 28, 2025

So where does Kennedy actually stand, since his position seems to have fluctuated based on his political aspirations?

In November, shortly after being elected, President Donald Trump announced his decision to nominate Robert F. Kennedy as secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). Kennedy has openly supported abortion, calling himself “personally pro-life” in interviews, while advocating for abortion to be legal. “I don’t trust government to have jurisdiction over people’s bodies,” he has said in the past. “I think we need to leave it to the woman, her pastor and to, you know, her spiritual advisors or physician, whatever, to make those decisions.”

For this reason, Kennedy’s nomination caused concern among pro-life individuals, particularly as Trump’s 2024 campaign saw him apparently walking back and watering down many of his own previous pro-life stances held during his first presidential term.

Kennedy’s first confirmation hearing will begin on Wednesday, January 29, 2025 — and there are numerous questions the pro-life movement needs him to answer.

1. When do you believe that human life should be protected?

a. Is there a certain gestational age or level of development (such as when the heart begins to beat, or the child develops the ability to feel pain) at which you believe that preborn children deserve the protection of the federal government?

b. Conversely, are there any extenuating circumstances in which you believe that preborn children should not be protected?

As recently as May of 2024, Kennedy publicly stated that he opposed any restrictions on abortion, and argued that it should be legal even at full-term. However, he quickly changed his tune, saying, “I had been assuming that virtually all late-term abortions were such cases [the baby has some fatal condition], but I’ve learned that my assumption was wrong. Sometimes, women abort healthy, viable late-term fetuses. These cases of purely ‘elective’ late-term abortion are very upsetting. Once the baby is viable outside the womb, it should have rights and it deserves society’s protection.”

So where does Kennedy actually stand, since his position seems to have fluctuated based on his political aspirations?

Members of Congress should be sure to question him thoroughly about whether there are any preborn children he is willing to protect — because as head of HHS, he will have an enormous amount of influence on this issue.

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