RFK Jr grilled on anti-vax babygrows and abortion about-turn at US Senate hearing

LAST UPDATE | 18 hrs ago

ROBERT F. JENNEDY Jr told a US Senate confirmation hearing today that he supports President Donald Trump’s anti-abortion policies.

Trump’s appointment for Health Secretary also claimed at the make-or-break hearing that he was “pro-vaccine”.

Kennedy has been grilled on his history of promoting vaccine misinformation, as well as plans to upend US science agencies.

RFK Jr., a son of the Democratic Kennedy dynasty and one of the most prominent vaccine sceptics in the US, looks set to take the helm of a department overseeing more than 80,000 employees and a $1.7 trillion budget.

To get to the US Senate for a vote of his nomination, Kennedy needs to have two committee hearings, one before the Finance committee today and another in front of the Health, Education, Labour and Pension committee tomorrow.

Critics argue he is dangerously unqualified, citing his promotion of debunked claims linking childhood vaccines to autism, his suggestion that HIV does not cause AIDS, and accusations that he fueled anti-measles vaccine sentiment in Samoa during a 2019 visit, months before a deadly outbreak.

Abortion

Kennedy was vocal in his support for Trump’s anti-abortion policies, including ending federal funding for the procedure at home and abroad and protecting conscious exemptions for anti-abortion health workers.

“I agree with President Trump that every abortion is a tragedy. I agree with him that we cannot be a moral nation if we have 1.2 million abortions a year,” he told the Senate confirmation hearing.

It was not immediately clear what figure he was citing. The Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health policy and research group, estimates there were just over a million US abortions in 2023.

“President Trump has told me that he wants to end late-term abortions. He wants to protect conscious exemptions,” Kennedy added.

Kennedy was previously assumed to be pro-choice, with his presidential campaign site featuring some quotes which seem to contradict hardline pro-life views.

“I’m for choice and medical freedom. We need to trust mothers to make the best decisions,” a quote attributed to Kennedy says on the site.

In a campaign video last June, Kennedy said he believes that “abortion should be legal up until a certain number of weeks and restricted thereafter”.

“I have never seen any major politician flip on that issue quite as quickly as you did when President Trump tapped you to become HHS secretary,” Senator Bernie Sanders said during the hearing, noting Kennedy had until recently supported abortion rights.

Democratic Senator Maggie Hassan produced a sign quoting Kennedy during the hearing, which read: ‘We need to trust the women to make that choice, because I don’t trust government to make any choices. Well, particularly when it comes to bodily autonomy’. Kennedy agreed that he had said this 

Hassan asked Kennedy when he decided to “sell out the values you’ve had your whole life” in order to be given power by Trump.

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Kennedy said he agreed with Trump that “every abortion is a tragedy”.

‘Not anti-vaccine’

Kennedy, who has spent decades fueling misinformation around vaccines, told a Senate hearing that he was not anti-vaccine but “pro-safety”.

Citing a book he wrote in 2014, Kennedy said “The first line of it is, I am not anti-vaccine, and the last line is, I am not anti-vaccine.”

“News reports have claimed that I am anti-vaccine or anti-industry – I am neither,” RFK Jr. told the hearing.

“You lie” a protestor responded.

Oregon Senator Ron Wyden warned Kennedy’s embrace of “conspiracy theories” on vaccines make him unsuitable for the US’s top health post.

“Peddling these anti-vaccine conspiracy theories as our nation’s chief health officer is going to endanger the lives of kids and seniors across the nation,” Wyden said in his opening statement.

Kennedy has previously said there’s “no vaccine that is safe and effective”.

In further remarks, Wyden warned of the consequences of Kennedy’s proposal to “freeze” federal research on infectious diseases for eight years.

“I’ve reached the conclusion that he should not be entrusted with the health of the American people,” Wyden said.

‘Unvaxxed’ baby onesies

Kennedy was later questioned by Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders, who grilled the Health Secretary hopeful for selling baby onesies that read “UNVAXXED, UNAFRAID” and “NO VAX, NO PROBLEM”.

The onesies were sold by Children’s Health Defense, a US-based anti-accine lobbying group chaired by RFK Jr from 2015 to 2023.

“You’re coming before this committee and you’re saying you’re pro-vaccine, you just want to ask some questions,” Sanders said.

“Yet your organisation is making money selling a child’s product to parents for 26 bucks which casts fundamental doubt on the usefulness of vaccines.”

Asked if he would “take these products off the market, Kennedy said he has “no power” over the organisation.

“I’m not part of it, I resigned from the board,” he added.

Kennedy has repeatedly stated widely debunked claims about vaccinations.

One of his main false claims – which he repeated in a 2023 interview with Fox News – is that “autism comes from vaccines”.

Additional reporting from AFP

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