Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., might believe “every abortion is a tragedy,” but not enough of one to do anything about it — from a legal standpoint, at least.
The independent presidential candidate discussed the issue during a recent wide-ranging conversation with author and political commentator Ben Shapiro, who asked Kennedy to weigh in on what he described as “the most hot-button issue in the country.”
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“I grew up in a family where there are both pro-life and pro-choice people in my family, a deeply Catholic family,” said Kennedy. “So I think we should be able to talk about these issues without hating each other.”
He then told Shapiro he is “a medical freedom advocate” who believes “people should have bodily autonomy” because he doesn’t trust the government “to make decisions about what we should be doing with our own bodies.”
“The only solution for me is that a woman has to make that choice for herself,” he continued, referring to whether to terminate a pregnancy. “I believe that every abortion is a tragedy at one level or another and that we should do everything we can as a society to try and make sure women have other choices and particularly — I don’t like federal policy that channels women to want … abortion.”
At that point, Shapiro interjected that abortion is “not just a tragedy” but “a crime against the child because the child has independent interest.”
Kennedy said he understands Shapiro’s perspective, but doesn’t agree with it. However, rather than respond to the moral question Shapiro was raising, the presidential hopeful — who began his campaign as a Democrat before shifting to independent — turned back to stating he doesn’t want the federal government interjecting itself into the conversation.
It’s worth noting that, although Kennedy did say abortion is “a tragedy,” he failed to explain why he believes that.
“The solution of having the state come in and dictate choices that the woman is making is not — that’s not a good solution to me, having a bureaucrat making these very difficult moral choices,” he argued. “I think that choice should be between a woman, her pastor, her spiritual advisers, the people who she consults in her life. It’s a very difficult decision.”
Shapiro pressed Kennedy to say when he believes the unborn child has independent human rights and should be protected from abortion, to which Kennedy said “no woman” would choose to abort her unborn child eight months into pregnancy unless there were “extenuating circumstances,” noting that no one “in their right mind would do that.”
Ultimately, he said, he doesn’t “feel prepared” to turn decision-making power “over to the government.”
“I have tremendous respect for you,” Kennedy told Shapiro, “for having that absolute moral clarity on that position. But I think it’s more nuanced and complex than that.”
The conversation between Shapiro and Kennedy came just days after former President Donald Trump — the likely Republican presidential nominee — railed against the independent candidate in a social media attack.
In a thread posted to his own Truth Social, Trump said voting for Kennedy would constitute a “wasted protest vote” and that he would “even take Biden over” Kennedy, whom he called a “Democrat ‘plant.'”
Trump condemned Kennedy as “totally anti-gun” and described him as an “extreme environmentalist,” which is not wholly inaccurate. He is to the left of Biden on environmental matters, as he has called for things like a permanent ban on natural gas exports.
As for abortion, Trump revealed in early April that he would oppose a national ban on abortion if re-elected president in November.
“Many people have asked me what my position is on abortion and abortion rights,” he said in a video statement released on Truth Social. “My view is now that we have abortion where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint, the states will determine by vote or legislation or perhaps both. And whatever they decide must be the law of the land — in this case, the law of the state.”
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