Politics

RFK Jr. Takes To Social Media To Clarify Surprising Abortion Stance

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to make 'major announcement' in his presidential race

REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

Julianna Frieman Contributor
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Independent 2024 presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took to social media late Friday to clarify his abortion stance.

Kennedy told Sage Steele that he supports abortion “even if it’s full-term,” saying that he “wouldn’t leave it to the states” during an interview on the former ESPN host’s podcast Wednesday. Following a significant public response, Kennedy appeared to walk back his stance on the “notoriously divisive issue” in a lengthy social media post by explaining that, as president, he would allow abortion “up until a certain number of weeks.”

“I’ve been a medical freedom advocate for my entire career and have fought for bodily autonomy, and I trust women’s maternal instincts,” Kennedy wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “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?”

“Cases like this are why I am leery of inserting the government into abortion. I had been assuming that virtually all late-term abortions were such cases, but I’ve learned that my assumption was wrong,” he continued. “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.”

“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,” Kennedy wrote. “Therefore I would allow appropriate restrictions on abortion in the final months of pregnancy, just as Roe v. Wade did.”

Kennedy added that “we should be looking at why there are so many abortions in the first place.” He described a potential program he would implement as president called “More Choices, More Life,” which he said would “reduce abortion” by “supporting motherhood, supporting parents, and supporting families.” (RELATED: Donald Trump Says ‘You Have To Have’ Three Exceptions For Abortion)

In addition, Kennedy was announced to have accepted an invitation to speak at the May 24-26, 2024 Libertarian National Convention. Presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who previously criticized Kennedy as a “Democrat Plant,” also accepted an invitation to speak at the event. Kennedy applauded the Libertarian Party for its outreach to both candidates, writing in a Saturday social media post that the U.S. “needs more communication across ideological divides.”