Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has changed his stance on abortion once again, saying he supports abortion up until a certain point rather than at full term.
Following pressure from campaign staff, Kennedy announced late Friday that he was walking back his stance of supporting “full-term abortions” in a statement released on X. “Abortion has been a notoriously divisive issue in America, but actually I see an emerging consensus — abortion should be legal up until a certain number of weeks, and restricted thereafter,” he said.
“Once the baby is viable outside the womb, it should have rights and it deserves society’s protection,” he added.
Kennedy’s latest shake-up on where he stands on the divisive issue came after he said last week that he would allow women to have abortions at full term.
During an interview with podcaster Sage Steele, a former ESPN host, Kennedy was asked what the limit should be for women to have an abortion. “Should there be a limit or are you saying all the way up to full term, a woman has a right to have an abortion?” Steele asked.
Kennedy answered that he didn’t think anyone would want to do that at eight months of pregnancy, but abortion should be out of the hands of the government and in the hands of women.
“Even if it’s full-term,” Kennedy said in response to a follow-up question. “I don’t think it’s ever OK,” he added. When Steele said that would allow late-term abortions, Kennedy said, “I think we have to leave it to the women rather than the state.”
The answer left his running mate Nicole Shanahan surprised during her sit-down interview with Steele, released a week prior.
“My understanding with Bobby’s position is that, you know, every abortion is a tragedy, is a loss of life,” Shanahan said. “My understanding is that he absolutely believes in limits on abortion, and we’ve talked about this. I do not think, I don’t know where that came from.”
Shanahan went on to say, “That is not my understanding of his position and I think maybe there was a miscommunication there.”
Kennedy’s latest clarification comes after the candidate previously said he would support a much more strict stance on abortion.
During an interview with NBC News in August of last year, Kennedy said if elected, he’d support signing a national abortion ban after the first three months of pregnancy, before his campaign walked back the comments.
Kennedy told NBC News, “I believe a decision to abort a child should be up to the women during the first three months of life.” Pressed on whether that meant signing a federal ban at 15 or 21 weeks, he said yes.
Kennedy’s campaign later put out a statement saying that the candidate “misunderstood” repeated questions on the topic.
“Mr. Kennedy misunderstood a question posed to him by an NBC reporter in a crowded, noisy exhibit hall at the Iowa State Fair,” a spokesperson said, clarifying the candidate’s stance on abortion as “always” being the woman’s right to choose. Kennedy “does not support legislation banning abortion,” the campaign added at the time.
Kennedy and Shanahan are set to speak at a campaign rally in Austin, Texas, on Monday. This is the first time the pair will appear together in person since Kennedy announced Shanahan would be joining his campaign as his vice presidential selection.
