Mike Pence opposes RFK Jr. for HHS because of support for abortion access

(WASHINGTON) -- Former Vice President Mike Pence, who did not endorse or support President-elect Donald Trump during the 2024 election cycle, said Friday that he opposes Trump's choice of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services because of Kennedy's support for abortion access.

Pence said in a statement that choosing Kennedy is a departure from what he framed as the Trump-Pence administration's general opposition to abortion access.

"I believe the nomination of RFK Jr. to serve as Secretary of HHS is an abrupt departure from the pro-life record of our administration and should be deeply concerning to millions of Pro-Life Americans who have supported the Republican Party and our nominees for decades," Pence wrote.

Pence claimed that Kennedy, for most of his career, has supported positions such as "abortion on demand during all nine months of pregnancy" and restoring Roe v. Wade.

“The pro-life movement has always looked to the Republican party to stand for life, to affirm an unborn child has a fundamental right to life which cannot be infringed,” Pence wrote.

"On behalf of tens of millions of pro-life Americans, I respectfully urge Senate Republicans to reject this nomination and give the American people a leader who will respect the sanctity of life as secretary of Health and Human Services," he added.

During his 2024 run, Trump said laws surrounding abortion access should be left up to individual states to decide.

Kennedy’s own position on abortion had lacked some clarity throughout his independent presidential campaign, which he suspended in August as he endorsed Trump.

He said at one point that he opposed the Supreme Court's decision to overrule Roe v. Wade, and in one interview he argued that "we have to leave it to the women rather than the state."

In 2023, he told NBC News he would sign a federal ban on the procedure after three months, but his campaign later walked back the comments, saying he “misunderstood” the question. In May 2024, he said he advocates a woman’s right to choose an abortion at any point during her pregnancy.

He later wrote in a post on X, after some blowback, that he “would allow appropriate restrictions on abortion in the final months of pregnancy, just as Roe v. Wade did.” And in June, he wrote on social media, “Abortion has been a notoriously divisive issue in America, but actually I see an emerging consensus: that abortion should be legal up until a certain number of weeks, and restricted thereafter.”

Some groups that oppose abortion access have also criticized Trump’s decision to pick Kennedy.

In a statement to ABC News, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser said her group has "concerns" about Kennedy leading HHS.

"There's no question that we need a pro-life HHS secretary, and of course, we have concerns about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.," Dannenfelser wrote. "I believe that no matter who is HHS secretary, baseline policies set by President Trump during his first term will be re-established."

Groups that support abortion access have also criticized Trump's selection of Kennedy.

Mini Timmaraju, CEO of Reproductive Freedom for All, wrote in a statement Thursday, “Trump ran on a promise not to ban abortion nationwide, but his cabinet nominees are Project 2025 come to life. RFK Jr. is an unfit, unqualified extremist who cannot be trusted to protect the health, safety, and reproductive freedom of American families.”

ABC News reached out to Kennedy for comment.

ABC News' Olivia Rubin, Ben Siegel, and Will McDuffie contributed to this report.

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