Top red flags

Top red flags

• During a May 2025, Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions committee hearing, Secretary Kennedy said he believes the label on mifepristone should be changed and admitted he has asked FDA Commissioner Makary to do “a complete review and to report back” on mifepristone, despite the more than 100 peer-reviewed studies over 25 years have overwhelmingly proven that mifepristone is safe and effective. He also stated that final decisions around mifepristone policy changes will be decided by President Trump. 
• During his Senate confirmation hearings, Kennedy readily agreed to implement President Trump’s anti-abortion policies including reinstating the Title X domestic gag rule, prohibiting research using fetal tissue derived from abortions, restricting access to medication abortion via telehealth, hiring “pro-life people” to serve as his deputies throughout HHS, ending abortion later in pregnancy, supporting religious refusals of care, and eliminating “federal funding for abortions here or abroad.”
• Kennedy has major ties to the anti-science community and founded the leading vaccine disinformation organization.

Statements

Statements

• During his confirmation hearings, Kennedy expressed concerning sentiments on abortion, including the following:
  • On reinstating the Title X domestic gag rule, which prohibits network providers from referring and counselling patients for abortion care and requires physical and financial separation of Title X services from abortion care.
    • “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. President Trump has told me that he wants to end late term abortions and he wants to protect conscious exemptions and that he wants to end federal funding for abortions here or abroad. That’s Title X. I’m going to — I serve at the pleasure of the President. I’m going to implement his policies.”(Senate Finance Committee Hearing, January 29, 2025)
    • Exchange with Senator Hawley (R-MO): “You were asked yesterday if you would support President Trump’s rule that says no Title X funding for those who perform abortions or refer people to abortions. I think your answer was, yes, you would reinstate that rule. I just want to be sure I’m right about that.”
      
      Kennedy: “Yes.” (Senate HELP Committee Hearing, January 30, 2025)
  • On mifepristone, a safe and effective abortion medication approved by the FDA in 2000:
    • “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 safety issues, and I’ll ask NIH and FDA to do that.” (Senate Finance Committee Hearing, January 29, 2025)
    • “President Trump has asked me to study the safety of Mifepristone. He has not yet taken a stand on how to regulate it. Whatever he does, I will implement those policies.” (Senate Finance Committee Hearing, January 29, 2025)
    • Exchange with Senator Baldwin (D-WI): “The most widely used medication abortion drug, Mifepristone, has been FDA approved for nearly 25 years. More than 100 studies have confirmed that 99 percent of patients who took the abortion pill had no complications. So with all of that, I can only conclude that you would commit to keep this science-backed and proven medication on the market and accessible for women. Is that correct?”
      
      Kennedy: “I’m going to — with Mifepristone, President Trump has not chosen a policy. I will implement his policy.”
      
      Sen. Baldwin: “So regardless of the studies, regardless of the data, regardless of the science, you’ve been talking about, show me the data, show me the studies. You would have that policy regardless of what the science says.”
      
      Kennedy: “Senator, the devil — the details. If you’re telling me 99 percent of women did OK, but one percent died, I would say that is not a beneficial risk profile.”
      
      Sen. Baldwin: “That is not what the studies show.”
      
      Kennedy: “I know but you’re not showing me. I need those details from the study before — I can’t buy a pig in a poke.” (Senate HELP Committee Hearing, January 30, 2025)
    • Exchange with Senator Hawley (R-MO): “If the Biden administration rule on chemical abortion stands and you can mail in these abortion drugs without a doctor visit or referral, that means no state ban, no state decision, no voter decision is going to matter, we’re going to have a one size fits all policy set here in Washington. I hope you’ll take that into consideration.”
      
      Kennedy: “I will implement President Trump’s policies.” (Senate HELP Committee Hearing, January 30, 2025)
  • On hiring pro-life individuals at HHS
    • Exchange with Senator Scott (R-SC): “You and I had a serious conversation about the importance of life and I’m a pro-life Christian, as you know. And you said that — you assured me that your deputies were going to be pro-life. Is that still the case?”
      
      Kennedy: “I — I will implement President Trump’s policies. I serve at his pleasure. But I share President Trump’s view that every abortion is a tragedy. I share…”
      
      Sen. Scott: “But my question is are you — are you having deputies within your — at HHS that will be pro-life?”
      
      Kennedy: “As — as I said, I — I can tell you exactly what I’m going to do so there’s no mistake. I’m going to implement President Trump’s policies. President Trump has told me he wants to end late-term abortion. He said…”
      
      Sen. Scott: “Are you — are you hiring people who are pro-life in H- — at HHS?”
      
      Kennedy: “Yes, I am.” (Senate HELP Committee Hearing, January 30, 2025)
  • On prohibiting research using fetal tissue derived from abortions
    • Exchange with Senator Hawley (R-MO): “My question to you is, will you reinstate President Trump’s policy that ensures that no federal research and no federal tax dollars is conducted on fetal tissue taken from elective abortions.”
      
      Kennedy: “Yes.” (Senate HELP Committee Hearing, January 30, 2025)
  • During the HELP Committee hearing, Sen. Ashley Moody (R-FL) referred to a prior private conversation with Kennedy in her office in which he personally assured that Senator “that you will not use your agency or any organization that falls under your leadership to interfere with the state’s ability to set policy or any autonomy of the state to enact or enforce laws that protect the lives of the unborn. I think that that is a concern of many — it was certainly one of mine, and you allayed those concerns, and I appreciated you spending so much time with your assurances.” (Senate HELP Committee Hearing, January 30, 2025)
• “Sometimes women abort healthy, viable, late-term fetuses. These cases of purely elective late-term abortions are very upsetting. Once the [fetus] is viable outside the womb, it should have rights and it deserves society’s protection.” From X.
• “I’ve seen pictures of third term abortions and I’m appalled by them, and will do everything I can to end those.” From Catholic News Agency.  
• “I think there’s a compelling argument that the state has an interest in protecting a fully formed fetus. I absolutely think that argument is very convincing.” From CNN.
• “Some data then indicated that actually there are … thousands, of births each year that are elective abortions in the final month of abortion. In my view, those should not happen. I’ve seen the pictures that are very gruesome as I’m sure you have, so I changed my position.” From Megyn Kelly Show Interview.
• “Abortion should be legal up until a certain number of weeks, and restricted thereafter.” From X.
  

Publications

Publications

• On May 23, 2024, Kennedy wrote a Newsweek op-ed—titled “Liberate the Debate”—which mentions abortion. Kennedy wrote, “[l]ittle political will remains to address the problems that are crushing our nation. Issues such as $34 trillion in public debt, the chronic disease epidemic, decaying infrastructure, addiction to war, corporate-government corruption, and the affordability crisis occupy precious little bandwidth compared to abortion, guns, and trans rights.”

Extremist connections

Extremist connections

• Kennedy founded the leading anti-vaccine group, Children’s Health Defense. Despite overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary, this organization touts the false narrative that vaccines cause autism.