Former Vice President Mike Pence, who did not endorse or support President-elect Donald Trump in the 2024 election cycle, said Friday that he opposes Trump’s Robert F. Kennedy Jr. elected as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Kennedy for his support of abortion access.
Pence said in a statement that the selection of Kennedy is a departure from the Trump-Pence administration’s nominations. general opposition to abortion access.
“I believe the appointment of RFK Jr. as HHS Secretary is a sudden departure from our administration’s pro-life record and should be deeply troubling to the millions of Americans who have supported the Republican Party and our candidates for decades,” Pence wrote.
Mike Pence walks into Statuary Hall in the US Capitol on May 16, 2024.
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Pence said that Kennedy, for most of his career, has supported “abortion on demand at nine months of pregnancy” and Roe v. That he supports positions like getting Wade back.
“The pro-life movement has always looked to the Republican Party to stand for life, to affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental right to life that cannot be violated,” Pence wrote.
“On behalf of tens of millions of pro-life Americans, I respectfully urge Senate Republicans to reject this nomination and give the American people a leader who will respect the sanctity of life as Secretary of Health and Human Services,” he added.
During the 2024 campaign, Trump touted abortion access laws it should be left to individual states.
Kennedy’s stance on abortion was unclear during his independent presidential campaign, which he abandoned in August because of Trump’s endorsement.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks in front of former Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump at a campaign event Nov. 1, 2024, in Milwaukee.
Morris Gash/AP
At one point, the Supreme Court said in Roe v. He was against the decision to annul Wade, and argued in an interview that “we should leave it to women rather than to the state.”
in 2023, he told NBC News he would sign a federal ban on the procedure three months later, but his campaign later walked back the comments, saying he “misunderstood” the question. In May 2024, she said she supports a woman’s right to choose an abortion at any point in her pregnancy.
He then he wrote in a message from Xafter a series of setbacks, he “would have passed appropriate restrictions on abortion in the last months of pregnancy, as Roe v. Wade did.” And in June, he wrote on social media: “Abortion has been a controversial issue in America, but in fact, I see a consensus emerging that abortion should be legal up to a certain number of weeks, and then limited.”
Some groups that oppose access to abortion have also criticized Trump’s decision to pick Kennedy.
President-elect Donald Trump speaks at the America First Policy Institute gala at Mar-a-Lago on November 14, 2024 in Palm Beach, Florida.
Carlos Barria/Reuters
In a statement to ABC News, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser said her group has “concerns” about HHS leader Kennedy.
“There is no doubt that we need a pro-life HHS secretary, and of course we have concerns about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,” Dannenfelser wrote. “I believe that no matter who the secretary of HHS is, the fundamental policies established by President Trump in his first term will be reinstated.”
Groups that support abortion access have also criticized Trump’s selection of Kennedy.
Mini Timmaraju, director of Reproductive Freedom for All, wrote in a statement Thursday: “Trump pledged not to ban abortion nationwide, but his cabinet nominees are living Project 2025. RFK Jr. is an extreme misfit, and cannot be trusted with the health of America’s families.” , to protect safety and reproductive freedom”.
ABC News reached out to Kennedy for comment.
ABC News’ Olivia Rubin, Ben Siegel and Will McDuffie contributed to this report.
