RFK Jr.’s campaign tries to walk back his support of three-month federal abortion ban
By Aaron Pellish
Published 11:05 PM EDT, Sun August 13, 2023
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign on Sunday evening quickly tried to walk back comments the Democratic presidential candidate had made earlier in the day in support of a nationwide abortion restriction after the first three months of pregnancy.
“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, attempting to clarify remarks Kennedy had made to an NBC reporter at the Iowa State Fair that had prompted praise from a major anti-abortion rights group.
Kennedy, who’s waging a long-shot bid for the nomination against President Joe Biden, had said that he believes “a decision to abort a child should be up to the women during the first three months of life,” but that “the state has an interest” in restricting abortions after the first trimester and that he would support a federal law banning abortions after that period.
“Once a child is viable outside the womb, I think then the state has an interest in protecting the child,” Kennedy told NBC. He also added: “I’m for medical freedom. Individuals are able to make their own choices.”
The Kennedy campaign said he misunderstood the question “in a crowded, noisy exhibit hall at the Iowa State Fair.”
According to video of the exchange, the NBC reporter had asked Kennedy, “So three months, you would sign a federal cap on that?” to which he replied, “Yes, I would.”
The campaign’s statement came shortly after Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America praised Kennedy for the position he outlined to NBC, calling it a “stark contrast to the Democratic Party’s radical stance.”
more
https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/13/politics/rfk-jr-abortion-ban-iowa/index.html
