RFK Jr.’s Hearing Confirms He Is Wholly Unfit to Lead HHS and a Grave Threat to Reproductive Health

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Jan. 29) – Today, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s testimony before a Senate committee further reinforced widespread concerns he is wholly unfit to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, the department responsible for protecting public health.

In response, Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center, issued the following statement: 

“Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a long track record of spreading health misinformation and conspiracy theories. But after watching his questioning today, there is no doubt — he poses a direct and severe threat to the health and lives of people in this country. 

His insistence that “every abortion is a tragedy” and assertions that doctors should be able to refuse abortion care based on personal biases only confirms that he would rather let pregnant people die than ensure they receive the emergency medical care they need. Not only is this dangerous, but it is also illegal under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), a fact that an incoming HHS Secretary should know. When asked if an emergency room patient bleeding out from an incomplete miscarriage should be given emergency abortion care, in accordance with federal law, even in a state where abortion is prohibited, Kennedy responded: “I don’t know.” 

Those responses highlight just how much of a threat Kennedy would be at a time when people across the country are dying because of extreme abortion bans enacted after the unjust overturning of Roe v. Wade. The Senate must reject his nomination. The leadership of HHS should be entrusted to someone dedicated to improving our public health and who promises to ensure individuals receive the health care they are guaranteed by law — not someone politically motivated to serve the interests of their administration and who has demonstrated a willingness to compromise public health for personal and political gain.”

This morning, over 55 organizations committed to reproductive rights, health, and justice expressed their serious concerns to the Senate regarding Kennedy’s inconsistent stance on abortion, exposing his lack of fitness to lead HHS and his failure to appreciate the gravity of the position he seeks to fill.