{"id":2398522,"date":"2025-02-04T06:12:02","date_gmt":"2025-02-04T11:12:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/anti-abortion-groups-encouraged-by-rfk-jr-after-initial-concerns-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2025-02-04T06:13:09","modified_gmt":"2025-02-04T11:13:09","slug":"anti-abortion-groups-encouraged-by-rfk-jr-after-initial-concerns-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/anti-abortion-groups-encouraged-by-rfk-jr-after-initial-concerns-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Anti-abortion groups \u2018encouraged\u2019 by RFK Jr after initial concerns &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fanti-abortion-groups-encouraged-by-rfk-jr-after-initial-concerns-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2398522&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK Jr.) recently faced a confirmation hearing\u2064 for his nomination as Secretary of \u200bHealth and\u2062 Human Services (HHS), \u2062where he encountered\u200b meaningful scrutiny regarding\u2062 his controversial past\u200c positions on both vaccines and abortion.Over a lengthy 3.5-hour session,\u200c he was grilled by \u200dsenators from\u200b both parties on these issues, particularly focusing on his\u2064 previous\u2062 anti-vaccine statements, which \u200braised concerns among \u2063some Republican senators.<\/p>\n<p>Despite opposition rooted\u2062 in his past views, RFK \u2062Jr. sought to reassure skeptics, especially\u2064 concerning abortion.\u2063 He promised to align with\u2064 the trump \u200dadministration\u2019s anti-abortion policies, marking a notable shift from his earlier stance as a supporter of\u200d abortion \u2064rights.This pivot was met with cautious optimism from \u2062several anti-abortion groups, including Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America and \u2063Students\u2063 for \u200cLife America,\u200d who appreciated his \u2063commitments on various anti-abortion measures. \u200dThese included\u2062 potential appointments of anti-abortion officials, investigations into the safety \u200cof abortion pills, and \u200bdenouncing\u2062 all\u200b abortions as tragedies.<\/p>\n<p>Though, RFK\u200c Jr. continues to face hurdles in securing confirmation, primarily \u200bdue to his \u2062stance on vaccines, \u2064which has alienated \u2063some Republican senators. Concerns about his credibility and ability to lead\u200d HHS \u200dare still \u2064prevalent, as indicated by reactions \u2064from groups like Advancing American Freedom, which continues to oppose his nomination based on\u2063 his previous views \u200cand statements.<\/p>\n<p>As the Senate Finance Committee \u200cprepares for a vote, RFK Jr.&#8217;s perceived alignment \u200dwith the current administration&#8217;s policies appears to be\u200b a strategic move to gain the \u2063necessary support,yet the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/toyota-chairman-throws-cold-water-on-ev-agenda-says-transition-wont-match-projections\/\" title=\"Toyota Chairman Dismisses EV Hype, Expects Slower Transition\">ultimate outcome remains uncertain<\/a> with opposition still lingering \u2064in\u200c certain quarters.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Anti-abortion groups &lsquo;encouraged&rsquo; by RFK Jr after initial concerns<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1960444\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;\">There is some welcomed news for&nbsp;Health and Human Services secretary nominee <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/robert-f-kennedy-jr\/\" target=\"_blank\">Robert F. Kennedy Jr.<\/a>, who is&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3306315\/republican-trio-who-could-help-sink-rfk-jr-hhs-nomination\/\" target=\"_blank\">in limbo<\/a>&nbsp;headed into a key test vote <\/span>on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Anti-abortion groups are cautiously optimistic about Kennedy&rsquo;s stance on the matter after he pledged during contentious confirmation hearings to support the Trump administration&rsquo;s anti-abortion policies, a U-turn from his previous posture as a Democratic abortion-rights advocate.<\/p>\n<p>Winning over the tepid approval from anti-abortion advocates presents one less hurdle for the controversial Cabinet choice, who has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3307494\/conservatives-watch-bill-cassidy-vote-rfk-jr-confirmation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"struggling to secure enough Republican support\">struggled to secure enough Republican support<\/a> over his vaccine skepticism.<\/p>\n<p>Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, a leading anti-abortion group, stopped short of endorsing Kennedy and will not hold it against any Republicans who may oppose him but was &ldquo;encouraged&rdquo; by Kennedy&rsquo;s abortion answers.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;When Kennedy was first nominated, we immediately voiced concern and the need for assurances given his previous positions on abortion,&rdquo; Susan B. Anthony President Marjorie Dannenfelser said in a statement. &ldquo;It is important that President Trump, Kennedy, and the GOP Senate took these concerns seriously and that public commitments were made. We will not score Kennedy&rsquo;s nomination in committee or on the Senate floor.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Students for Life America President Kristan Hawkins called a range of pledges Kennedy made to senators a &ldquo;step in the direction,&rdquo; including that he would appoint anti-abortion HHS officials, cease fetal stem cell research, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/white-house-releases-list-of-president-trumps-accomplishments-and-it-is-historic\/\" title=\"White House Releases List of ...\u2019s Accomplishments \u2013  And It Is Historic!\">end late-term abortions<\/a>, investigate the safety of long-standing abortion pills, strengthen abortion exemptions for anti-abortion doctors, and his denouncement of abortions as a &ldquo;tragedy.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;There was a lot to appreciate in RFK Jr.&rsquo;s testimony,&rdquo; Hawkins said in a statement to the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>. &ldquo;A highlight of RFK Jr.&rsquo;s very intense conversations with members of the U.S. Senate was the fact that he and President Trump see abortion as a tragedy and that they are looking at the real and deadly impacts of the abuse of agency power to force chemical abortion pills on the market.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The cautious embrace from abortion opponents comes as the Senate Finance Committee will vote on Tuesday to advance Kennedy&rsquo;s nomination to the full chamber. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who remains a holdout over Kennedy&rsquo;s views on vaccines, holds the power to derail the nominee.<\/p>\n<p>Cassidy and Kennedy spoke again on Sunday, according to a source familiar with the matter, after the two clashed publicly over vaccines at last week&rsquo;s hearings. Cassidy declined to answer questions from reporters at the Capitol Monday evening but described his discussion with Kennedy as &ldquo;cordial.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Other Republicans who Kennedy may need in order to be confirmed but who have expressed similar concerns about his vaccine skepticism include Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK).<\/p>\n<p>In his hearings, Kennedy condemned &ldquo;every abortion&rdquo; as &ldquo;a tragedy,&rdquo; said the United States &ldquo;cannot be a moral nation if we have 1.2 million abortions a year,&rdquo; and agreed with President Donald Trump that &ldquo;the states should control abortion.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I serve at the pleasure of the president,&rdquo; Kennedy said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to implement his policies.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Americans United for Life CEO John Mize <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/AUL\/status\/1885010092191293692\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">said<\/a> Kennedy offered &ldquo;clear signals that the pro-life movement can work&rdquo; with Kennedy at the helm of HHS and that the nominee &ldquo;acknowledging that every abortion is a tragedy left my team applauding.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>However, not all anti-abortion advocates are in agreement.<\/p>\n<p>Advancing American Freedom, the nonprofit policy group founded by former Vice President Mike Pence, is still urging senators to oppose Kennedy over his past abortion views and said the confirmation hearings &ldquo;raised more questions about RFK Jr.&rsquo;s ability to lead HHS.&rdquo; In its latest anti-Kennedy ad that it launched Tuesday morning and was first reported by the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>, AAF used footage of Trump from the campaign trail whacking Kennedy as a &ldquo;Democrat plant&rdquo; to urge Republicans to oppose the nominee. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., President Donald Trump&rsquo;s nominee to serve as secretary of Health and Human Services, testifies during a Senate Finance Committee hearing for his pending confirmation on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, in Washington. (Graeme Jennings\/Washington Examiner)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&ldquo;The American people deserve an HHS secretary with a firm commitment to protecting life, who doesn&rsquo;t fall for or promote health-related misinformation,&rdquo; the group said last week as it <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/AmericanFreedom\/status\/1884685735875276996\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">unveiled another anti-Kennedy ad<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>During one of the two hearings, Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) highlighted Kennedy&rsquo;s abortion-rights stances during his 2024 presidential campaign to accuse the HHS nominee of selling out a lifelong belief in exchange for power.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It is remarkable that you have such a long record of fighting for women&rsquo;s reproductive freedom, and really great that my Republican colleagues are so open to voting for a pro-choice HHS secretary,&rdquo; Hassan said.<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), a Trump confidant, sought to <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">offer anti-abortion advocates additional<\/a> last-minute reassurance that Kennedy would be an ally.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I am now OK supporting RFK Jr. because I think during the course of the hearing, he&rsquo;s committed to a Republican pro-life agenda, President Trump&rsquo;s pro-life agenda, Mexico City policy dealing with chemical abortions,&rdquo; Graham said on <em>Fox News Sunday<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I will take him at his word,&rdquo; he continued. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m comfortable with what he said on the pro-life issue. He has been radically pro-choice as a person. But I do believe that, as secretary, he will implement a pro-life agenda that will be pushed by President Trump.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1960444\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1960444\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Anti-abortion groups are now optimistic about RFK Jr.&#8217;s stance after initial concerns<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3108,"featured_media":2398523,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/rfk-jr-wins-cautious-support-from-pro-life-groups.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[9537,6017,32458,32076],"class_list":["post-2398522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-anti-abortion","tag-advocacy","tag-rfk-jr","tag-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/rfk-jr-wins-cautious-support-from-pro-life-groups.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2398522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3108"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2398522"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2398522\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2398526,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2398522\/revisions\/2398526"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2398523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2398522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2398522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2398522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}