WASHINGTON — Democratic presidential contender Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he would support a federal abortion ban after the first three months of pregnancy on Sunday, but walked back those comments hours later.
During the Iowa State Fair over the weekend, Kennedy Jr. told NBC News reporter Ali Vitali that he believes “a decision to abort a child should be up to the women during the first three months of life.” When asked whether he would sign a federal ban on abortion at 15 weeks or 21 weeks, the presidential hopeful said “yes, three months.”
“You know, once a child is viable, outside the womb, I think then the state has an interest in protecting the child…I’m for medical freedom. Individuals ought to be able to make their own choices,” Kennedy Jr. said.
The campaign said that Kennedy Jr. allegedly “misunderstood” the question “in a crowded, noisy exhibit hall” at the Iowa State Fair.
“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 campaign said in a statement.
The statement came after the organization Susan. B Anthony Pro-Life America, an anti-abortion group, issued a statement calling Kennedy Jr’s remarks “a stark contrast to the Democratic Party’s radical stance of abortion .”
“Kennedy is one of the few prominent Democrats aligned with the consensus of the people today,” SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser said in the statement.
Kennedy Jr. previously told USA TODAY that he feels the government should not be telling people what to do with their bodies and it should be up to the woman during the first three months of pregnancy.
His comments come as states across the country have implemented their own restrictions − or protections − for abortion after the Supreme Court last year overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision that granted a constitutional protection for abortion. Ohio voters last week rejected a controversial ballot measure that turned into a proxy war over abortion.
President Joe Biden, the Democratic frontrunner in the 2024 race for the White House, has pushed to codify abortion rights into law, though his party currently lacks the votes to achieve that goal in the House.
