Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently made his case against any form of government regulation when it comes to abortion.
During a Wednesday appearance on The Sage Steele Show, the presidential hopeful explained that he views himself as a leading American proponent for bodily autonomy and medical freedom.
“Every abortion is a tragedy,” he said. “Many of them leave permanent trauma on the woman. But I think, ultimately, I don’t trust government to have jurisdiction over people’s bodies. I think we need to leave it to the woman, her pastor … her spiritual adviser, her physician, whatever, to make those decisions.”
Kennedy mentioned a plan he has devised called “More Choice and Fewer Abortions.” He claimed that sixty percent of abortions are among women who make the decision based on economic reasons.
Then, Steele pressed Kennedy about his feelings regarding full-term abortions.
“I don’t think any woman, ever, ever in history, has said I’m going to have a baby, I’m going to get pregnant and carry that baby to eight months term – and then I’m gonna terminate the pregnancy,” he said. “I don’t think anybody wants to do that.”
He added: “I’m sure it has happened. I would say in almost all those cases, there are extenuating circumstances.”
Following additional conversation, and pushback from Steele, Kennedy said he would not leave the matter up to states to decide either.
“I don’t trust the state and I think we need to trust the woman,” he said. “We shouldn’t have government involved.”
“Even if it’s full term?” Steele asked.
“Even if it’s full term,” he replied. 🚨FULL CLIP! RFK Jr on Abortion!
“Every abortion is a tragedy. Many of them leave permanent trauma on the woman”
Ultimately I do not trust the government to have jurisdiction over people’s bodies.”
Discusses his “More Choice, Fewer Abortions” Plan to help women choose LIFE. pic.twitter.com/X2zNpbvhD7
— Chris Nelson 🇺🇸 🏝 (@ReOpenChris) May 9, 2024
Kennedy continued:I don’t think it’s ever OK. … I think we should do everything in our power to make sure that never happens. … But I think ultimately nobody sets out to do that and there are always some kind of extenuating circumstances that would make a mother make that kind of choice. A terrible, terrible choice. You can’t overstate how bad that is. I think ultimately we have to trust women.
During an appearance by Kennedy’s running mate, Nicole Shanahan, Steele recounted the presidential hopeful’s comments.
Shanahan appeared surprised.
“That is not Bobby’s position, at least as far as I understand it,” she said. “My understanding with Bobby’s position is that, you know, every abortion is a tragedy, is a loss of life.”
“My understanding is that he absolutely believes in limits on abortion, and we’ve talked about this,” Shanahan added. “I do not think, I don’t know where that came from.”
According to Kennedy’s website:The centerpiece of More Choices, More Life is a massive subsidized daycare initiative. We will safeguard women’s reproductive rights while redirecting the funds being spent on the war in Ukraine to subsidize community- and home-based daycares, along with stay-at-home parents. Instead of padding the pockets of our weapons manufacturers, we will pay 100% of care for the three million children under five who live beneath our poverty line. And we will cap the cost at 10% of family income for everyone else. These payments will not be available to corporate daycare chains or the hedge funds that own them. They will fund only single-location small businesses — as well as parents who decide to stay home with their children.
