Donald Trump’s Transition Team Seeks to Assuage Anti-Abortion Wing of Republican Party Amid Concerns Over Robert F. Kennedy’s Abortion Stance
The Trump transition team is quietly strategizing how to ease concerns among anti-abortion elements of the Republican Party over Robert F. Kennedy’s past comments supporting access to abortion until fetal viability.
As Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Kennedy’s nomination has sparked concerns among Republican senators and anti-abortion leaders. According to sources, anti-abortion leaders have expressed concerns that Kennedy’s views on abortion access could hinder his confirmation.
Trump’s transition team has already begun reassuring anti-abortion leaders that they intend to fill other top health care positions with anti-abortion advocates to alleviate these concerns. According to one anti-abortion leader, “We have some serious policy and personnel concerns that have been proprietary to our community for 30 years. The expectation they’ve given me is they will have an assistant HHS secretary who more aligns with us.”
Some Republican senators, such as Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford, have expressed concern that Kennedy’s stance on abortion will be a major issue during his confirmation hearings. Lankford stated, “It’ll come up in the hearing 100%. There’s no question that this will be an issue. I will raise it if no one else does.”
Anti-abortion critics have called for the Trump administration to restore restrictions on funding for family planning organizations that provide information about abortion, as well as to revive conscience protections for doctors and hospitals that opt out of performing the procedure. They also want the administration to reverse policies such as the guidance instructing hospitals to perform abortion in medical emergencies, even in states that ban the procedure, and a policy allowing for abortion pills to be obtained without an in-person doctor’s visit.
Despite these concerns, some experts believe that Trump’s nomination of Kennedy may still secure some Senate Democratic votes, but a senior Republican senator stated that anti-abortion groups will expect Kennedy to commit to reintroducing restrictions on federal funding when he meets with them privately ahead of his confirmation hearings.
The Trump transition team, however, sees this as a minor issue and believes that Kennedy will support Trump’s stance on abortion, with a spokesperson stating, “He has every intention of supporting President Trump’s agenda to the fullest extent.”