RFK Jr. walks back abortion ban comments

Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has walked again remarks of him saying that he would assist a federal ban on abortion. 

In an interview with NBC Information on the Iowa State Truthful, Kennedy stated he would signal a federal ban on abortion after 15 weeks or 21 weeks of being pregnant if he have been elected president. 

“I consider a choice to abort a toddler needs to be as much as the ladies throughout the first three months of life,” Kennedy instructed the information outlet, including that “as soon as a toddler is viable, outdoors the womb, I feel then the state has an curiosity in defending the kid.”

“I’m for medical freedom,” Kennedy stated. “People are in a position to make their very own selections.”

In an announcement on Sunday, Kennedy’s marketing campaign crew stated that the candidate misunderstood the questions requested by NBC Information congressional reporter Ali Vitali, citing a “crowded” and “noisy” exhibit corridor on the truthful. 

“Right now, Mr. Kennedy misunderstood a query posed to him by a NBC reporter in a crowded, noisy exhibit corridor on the Iowa State Truthful,” his marketing campaign stated in an announcement. “Mr. Kennedy’s place on abortion is that it’s all the time the girl’s proper to decide on. He doesn’t assist laws banning abortion.”

In response, Vitali posted to X, a social media platform previously generally known as Twitter, a transcript of her full change with Kennedy Jr, stating that she requested her questions a number of instances to ensure the presidential candidate understood the topic. 

“Right here’s the total change with Kennedy, during which I ask the questions a number of instances to ensure we’re understanding- even at one level saying I used to be stunned by the stance,” Vitali stated in her submit. 

This comes as Kennedy Jr., who introduced his 2024 presidential marketing campaign in April, beforehand referred to himself as “pro-choice” and spoke in favor of legalizing abortion. 

“I’m not going be able, put myself able, the place I’m going to inform a girl to deliver a toddler to time period,” Kennedy stated at a city corridor cease in New Hampshire earlier in June, in line with Politico. 

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It’s been over a yr because the Supreme Courtroom overturned Roe v. Wade, a landmark choice established practically 50 years in the past that gave the constitutional proper to abortion to ladies. A number of GOP-led states have both carried out or enacted their very own abortion bans and restrictions when Roe was overturned.

Kennedy’s remarks additionally come days after Ohio voters rejected a poll measure that may have made it more durable to amend the state structure — which was partly seen as an effort to stop a statewide vote in November on a poll measure that may enshrine abortion rights into the state’s structure. 

The Hill has reached out to Robert F. Kennedy’s marketing campaign and Ali Vitali for remark.