Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. walked back his opposition to any government limits on abortion access in a social media post Friday evening after coming under fire from anti-abortion advocates, including from within his own campaign.
Kennedy said he believes “abortion should be legal up until a certain number of weeks,” while later adding he believes abortion should be restricted “in the final months of pregnancy.”
“Abortion has been a notoriously divisive issue in America, but actually I see an emerging consensus — abortion should be legal up until a certain number of weeks, and restricted thereafter,” Kennedy wrote on social media Friday. “Even in the reddest of red states, voters reject total abortion bans. And on the other end, almost no one supports gruesome third-trimester abortions except to save the life of the mother.”
“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. Therefore I would allow appropriate restrictions on abortion in the final months of pregnancy, just as Roe v. Wade did,” he added.
Kennedy’s comments come after he told podcast host Sage Steele he opposed any government limits on abortion access, even keeping abortion legal up until shortly prior to the delivery date of a child. That position drew condemnation from Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, a leading anti-abortion group, which said his comments rendered him “unacceptable to millions of pro-life voters nationwide.”
On Friday, Angela Stanton King – a Kennedy campaign adviser who has helped him with outreach to Black voters and with criminal justice and abortion policies – criticized Kennedy’s opposition to government limits on abortion access. Later Friday, Stanton King said in a social media post that she spoke with Kennedy and said he agreed to clarify his position on abortion.
The incident marks the second time where Kennedy has taken a clear-cut position on government limits on abortion access only for Kennedy’s comments to be walked back shortly afterwards. Last year, Kennedy told a reporter he would support a three-month federal abortion restriction, but his campaign quickly walked back that position.
