Reproductive Equity Now Statement on Confirmation of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to Lead Dept. of Health and Human Services
RFK, Bondi, Vought, more confirmations put abortion access at risk; Hart Holder stresses the solution is in the states
BOSTON (February 13, 2025) – Today, the Senate voted (52-48) to confirm Donald Trump’s nominee, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Today’s confirmation comes after the Senate confirmed Pam Bondi as U.S. Attorney General and Russell Vought as Director of the Office of Management and Budget last week. These confirmations will severely threaten abortion access and all reproductive health care nationwide, reinforcing the importance of state governments in standing up against federal encroachment.
“Trump and his political puppets just gave an anti-abortion, anti-science conspiracy theorist authority to oversee our nation’s health care. This comes after Pam Bondi, a leading anti-abortion attorney, was confirmed last week as our nation’s top law enforcement officer, and Russell Vought, the architect of Project 2025, was given the ability to manage the federal budget and oversee federal agencies. These three confirmations aren’t just reckless or dangerous – they are part and parcel of a deliberate strategy to dismantle reproductive freedom, ban access to abortion care, and strip Americans of their bodily autonomy,” said Rebecca Hart Holder, President of Reproductive Equity Now. “Now more than ever, state governments are essential to defending the right to choose and standing as a firewall for access to care. We must invest in states, like those in New England, where our leaders are doing the work to safeguard abortion, defend people’s personal freedoms, and go on offense to ensure patients from near and far can access the care they want and need.”
The Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Justice and the Office of Management and Budget serve as three critical departments in our federal government that are responsible for services and decisions relating to abortion access and reproductive health care. From funding for essential health care programs to regulation of medications, including medication abortion, to enforcement of patient protection laws, leaders of these departments could roll back access to care and put abortion seekers at risk of criminalization.
Kennedy, Bondi, and Vought all have records that signal cause for concern when it comes to the future of abortion access:
Kennedy
Kennedy publicly supported a 15-week abortion ban, which he subsequently walked back due to national backlash
Kennedy referred to abortion as a “tragedy” on his campaign website and during the confirmation hearing
Kennedy ran alongside a running mate who referred to IVF as “one of the biggest lies being told about women’s health”
Kennedy publicly opposed gender-affirming care and made bombastic claims that chemicals in water supplies were affecting the sexuality and gender of children
Kennedy appeared in political ads by CatholicVote, an extreme anti-abortion and anti-IVF political group
Bondi
Last week, Bondi made a comment signaling that she plans to take some kind of federal action against abortion providers prescribing abortion pills to people in states with abortion bans.
During her tenure as Attorney General of Florida, Bondi was a leader of the Susan B. Anthony Society’s “Pro-Life Women’s Caucus,” an organization dedicated to advancing anti-abortion policies in state governments.
Also as Attorney General of Florida, Bondi fought to preserve Florida’s 24-hour waiting period for abortion care policy, preventing Floridians from accessing abortion care in a timely manner and imposing arbitrary restrictions on care.
Bondi joined several conservative Attorneys General in 2018 in a suit pursuing the destruction of the Affordable Care Act, which would have robbed millions of Americans of health insurance and undone protections for all Americans that guarantee health care coverage for contraception.
Vought
Vought is the co-author of Project 2025, an extremist, far-right, anti-democratic agenda that directly outlines a pathway to a nationwide abortion ban using the antiquated, zombie law, the Comstock Act.
In Vought’s confirmation hearing, he made clear that, if confirmed, he would use his position to further dismantle reproductive rights protections.
In 2023, Vought publicly called on Congress to outlaw medication abortion.
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