Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Donald Trump’s choice for health secretary, said that the president had requested him to re-examine the safety of mifepristone, a drug that millions of people use every year to end pregnancies, reports RTE.
“President Trump has asked me to study the safety of mifepristone,” Mr Kennedy told his Senate confirmation hearing.
“He has not yet taken a stand on how to regulate it. Whatever he does, I will implement those policies,” reports RTE.
According to Mr. Kennedy, 70, he supports Mr. Trump’s anti-abortion policies, which include preserving conscious exemptions for medical professionals who oppose abortion and cutting off government financing for the operation both domestically and internationally.
“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 said, reports RTE.
Immediately, it was unclear whose individual he was referring about. According to the Guttmacher Institute, a research and policy organisation focused on reproductive health, there were slightly more than one million abortions performed in the United States in 2023.
Following decades of spreading false information about vaccinations, Mr. Kennedy stated during a Senate hearing that he was pro-safety rather than anti-vaccine.
“The first line of it is, I am not anti-vaccine, and the last line is, I am not anti-vaccine,” he stated, referring to a book he published in 2014, reports RTE.
One senior Democrat accused him of supporting conspiracy theories and “quacks” to discourage the use of life-saving medications, exposing his anti-vaccine sentiments.
In order to convince legislators that he was not opposed to vaccinations, Mr. Kennedy attempted to explain his record before the Senate Finance Committee, which is in charge of moving his nomination to the full Senate, reports RTE.
“I believe that vaccines play a critical role in healthcare. All of my kids are vaccinated,” he said, reports RTE.
The environmental lawyer has previously disseminated false information on the safety of vaccines, which has made him a contentious choice on both sides of the aisle.
“The receipts show that Mr Kennedy has embraced conspiracy theories, quacks (and) charlatans, especially when it comes to the safety and efficacy of vaccines,” reports RTE.
“He has made it his lifework to sow doubt and discourage parents from getting their kids lifesaving vaccines,” said Democratic Senator Ron Wyden in an opening statement before the hearing, reports RTE.
Tell us your thoughts in the Facebook post and share this with your friends.
