Abortion came up several times during the first of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation hearings for health secretary — and each time, Kennedy stuck with his canned statement: He’ll do whatever President Donald Trump tells him to do.
When Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) asked Kennedy about his plans for mifepristone, one of two drugs used in medication abortion, Kennedy revealed that Trump has tasked him with studying the safety of the drug. Mifepristone has been at the center of the abortion wars since Roe v. Wade fell in 2022, with many critics — including Daines — falsely claiming that mifepristone is dangerous for pregnant people.
“President Trump has asked me to study the safety of mifepristone,” Kennedy said. “He has not yet taken a stand on how to regulate it. Whatever he does, I will implement those policies.”
Anti-abortion advocates have called on the Food and Drug Administration to take mifepristone off the shelves. Groups opposed to abortion have also supported Trump banning abortion pills using the Comstock Act, an 1873 law that would criminalize sending abortion pills by mail. Many Republican lawmakers have criticized the Biden administration for loosening restrictions around accessing mifepristone.
Mifepristone has been used safely by around 6 million Americans since the FDA approved it in 2000, according to the agency. The medication, used widely for abortion and miscarriage care, is over 95% effective and safer than Tylenol. More than 100 studies have corroborated the drugs’ safety and effectiveness. Mifepristone and misoprostol used together accounted for 63% of abortion care in the U.S. in 2023, according to a study from the Guttmacher Institute. It’s likely that number has increased since then, given that more states have banned abortion and more people are getting abortion pills by mail.
Earlier in the hearing, Kennedy confirmed that he will also do whatever Trump tells him to when it comes to Title X, a federal program that provides funding for family planning services including STI testing and contraceptives. (Despite what several Republican senators said during Wednesday’s hearing, Title X does not cover the cost of abortion care.)
Kennedy told lawmakers that he agrees with Trump that abortion regulation should be left to the states, and that he wants to end abortions later in pregnancy.
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“I agree with President Trump that every abortion is a tragedy,” Kennedy said in response to a question from Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla).
Kennedy added that Trump wants to end federal funding for abortions here or abroad, but federal funding already cannot be used to pay for abortion care. Trump recently reinstated the “global gag rule,” which rescinds any funding for international reproductive health care services that include abortion care.
“I agree with him that we cannot be a moral nation if we have 1.2 million abortions a year,” Kennedy said,” adding, “I serve at the pleasure of the president, I’m going to implement his policies.”