Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says that women should be able to decide to get an abortion at any time during pregnancy — shocking his running mate Nicole Shanahan, who tried to claim “that is not Bobby’s position” on a recent podcast.
“Every abortion is a tragedy. Many of them leave permanent trauma on a woman. But I think, ultimately, I don’t trust government to have a jurisdiction over people’s bodies,” Kennedy told former ESPN anchor Sage Steele on an episode of her eponymous podcast, which aired Wednesday.
“I don’t think any woman has ever, ever in history, has said ‘I’m going to have a baby — I’m going to get pregnant and carry that baby to eight months of term and then I’m going to terminate the pregnancy,’” the 70-year-old continued. “I don’t think anybody wants to do that.”
“I don’t trust the state and I think we need to trust the woman,” Kennedy concluded.
Days earlier, Shanahan had given her own take on Kennedy’s abortion rights views on the same podcast.
“I spoke to Bobby about this, and at the end of the day, he says ‘Yes, this is a woman’s choice, period.’ And I said, ‘Even up until birth?’ And ‘yes’ was his answer,” Steele told Shanahan in an episode that aired May 1.
“Oh!” Shanahan exclaimed before saying that “this is why women should be having this conversation.”
“That is not Bobby’s position, at least as far as I understand it,” she went on. “My understanding with Bobby’s position is that, you know, every abortion is a tragedy, is a loss of life.”
“My understanding is that he absolutely believes in limits on abortion, and we’ve talked about this,” Shanahan added. “I do not think, I don’t know where that came from.”
Kennedy’s running mate then suggested there could have been “miscommunication” between Kennedy and Steele, and that she thinks he meant “it should always feel like a woman’s choice to the final moment.”
Kennedy has offered a range of views on abortion throughout his campaign, including saying he would support a federal abortion ban after three months, causing his team to backtrack his own statements.
“I believe a decision to abort a child should be up to the women during the first three months of life,” Kennedy told NBC while speaking at the Iowa State Fair in August 2023. “Once a child is viable, outside the womb, I think then the state has an interest in protecting the child.”
His campaign claimed at the time he had “misunderstood” the question and issued a retraction.
“Mr. Kennedy’s position on abortion is that it is always the woman’s right to choose,” his campaign said in a statement, according to Politico. “He does not support legislation banning abortion.”
Kennedy’s campaign website describes his policy on abortion as “more choices, more life,” and says women should be given more economic opportunities to afford childcare.
“As President, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will make it easier for women to choose life. He will give them more choices than they have today, we will see a lot fewer abortions, and a lot more flourishing families,” the website reads.
“Mr. Kennedy believes that abortion is a tragedy, and that late-term abortions are horrifying,” campaign press secretary Stefanie Spear told The Post Thursday.
“He believes that the mother has the final say, and moral responsibility, in such decisions. He is committed to reducing the abortion rate by supporting mothers and families and implementing universally affordable child care.”
