A leading pro-life group is blasting Democrat presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. after he flip-flopped on abortion.
As LifeNews reported, Kennedy, who hopes to challenge President Joe Biden for the Democratic Party nomination, has not spoken much about abortion. His campaign portrays him as a political moderate who hopes to reunite Americans and end the growing political division.
But the Democrat and presidential hopeful initially gave an interview with NBC News in which he said he supported killing babies in abortions but opposes abortions after viability, when an unborn baby can live on his or her own outside the womb.
“I believe a decision to abort a child should be up to the women during the first three months of life,” Kennedy said an in interview at an event in Iowa.
Asked whether he would sign a ban on abortions at 15 or 21 weeks, Kennedy said yes.
“Once a child is viable, outside the womb, I think then the state has an interest in protecting the child,” he continued, adding “I’m for medical freedom. Individuals are able to make their own choices.”
But the Kennedy campaign very quickly corrected the record and confirmed Kennedy support abortions up o birth without limits.
“Mr. Kennedy misunderstood a question posed to him by an NBC reporter in a crowded, noisy exhibit hall at the Iowa State Fair,” a campaign representative said in an email to LifeNews.
“Mr. Kennedy’s position on abortion is that it is always the woman’s right to choose. He does not support legislation banning abortion,” the email added.
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In response to this campaign statement on his behalf, the pro-life group SBA Pro-Life confrimed Kennedy is not pro-life.
“Kennedy is no staunch pro-life advocate,” SBA Pro-Life president Marjorie Dannefelser confirmed.
She said she’s not surprised Kennedy flip-flopped after getting backlash from radical pro-abortion Democrats who dominate the party.
“It seems clear someone told Kennedy to step back in line. This speaks volumes about the radical abortion lobby’s grip on party leadership and consultants. The voters deserve to hear directly from Kennedy on where he really stands given the conflicting statements from him versus his campaign,” she added.
“Today’s Democratic Party tolerates no debate on abortion, strictly enforcing a platform of abortion on demand right up to birth and paid for by taxpayers,” she explained. “He merely expressed the consensus of Americans – and a majority of rank-and-file Democrats – that unborn babies should be protected at least when they feel pain by 15 weeks. Yet most Democrat leaders refuse to name any protections they support for babies or their mothers.”
Dannenfelser told LifeNews that a recent Cygnal poll found that 56% of respondents overall and a plurality of Democrats support a federal limit on abortion at 15 weeks. Yet Joe Biden and every top Democrat in Washington support abortions up to birth with no limits.
Dannenfelser continued: “Courageous Democrats who stand up to bullies within their party are sadly few and far between. Diversity of thought when it comes to abortion is no longer encouraged or tolerated. We urge Democrats who are being censored to be brave and come forward. Candidates must be allowed to take morally sound, politically smart positions that align with the people. Voters deserve clarity about every candidate’s true position on human life and to know who is really calling the shots in this campaign. Consultants are not the ones running to be president. That is why it is so important that every candidate is asked, ‘Where do you draw the line?’”
The campaign statement that Kenedy supports no limits on abortions is consistent with the position Kennedy has said previously during the campaign. In June, Kennedy Jr. confirmed he supports killing unborn babies in abortions.
Responding to a voter’s question, Kennedy said he is “pro-choice” and supports “bodily autonomy,” WMUR 9 News reports.
“The only thing I can say to you on that issue is that I’m pro-choice,” Kennedy said when asked for a reason why pro-life voters should support him. “I don’t think there’s anybody in this country who’s worked harder for medical freedom, for bodily autonomy than me.”
His campaign made a similar comment to Newsweek in May.
Kennedy “believes strongly in the principle of bodily autonomy, whether the issue is abortion or medical mandates,” the spokesperson said. “He will keep government away from women’s childbearing choices. The moral issues are best left to the woman, her family and her religious community.”
Typically, this means a candidate supports laws that allow unborn babies to be aborted for any reason up to birth, without limits.
Kennedy’s campaign website does not mention specific abortion policy, but it does attempt to take a more moderate approach to the issue. The website suggests “dead fetuses” are a tragedy and acknowledges that pro-lifers have a “legitimate moral position.” It also promises Kennedy will listen to pro-lifers’ concerns.
“Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has clear positions on most of today’s divisive trigger issues like abortion, guns, and immigration, but he knows that both sides have legitimate concerns and legitimate moral positions,” it states. “No one is deplorable.”
It continues: “Few relish the thought of dead fetuses, nor do they want to force women to have unwanted babies. … [Kennedy] will model careful listening, and create conditions where each group can hear the stories of the other. He will lead the way toward national reconciliation, respectful dialog, and willingness to change, to grow and to forgive.”
Kennedy is a lawyer and the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy.
