Sen. Josh Hawley said Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, told him he was “open” to reimposing some restrictions on access to the abortion pill mifepristone.
Hawley, a staunch ally of the anti-abortion movement, said Kennedy’s remarks were made in a private conversation he had with Kennedy on Tuesday. The potential health secretary has been making the rounds on Capitol Hill, meeting with the senators who will eventually decide whether to confirm him to the role.
“I signaled my view that it was my hope that he would return to what was the rule under President Trump, which is that mifepristone should have in-person dispensing requirements, and he said that he was open to that,” Hawley told reporters Wednesday. “He indicated to me he wanted to support the president’s pro-life agenda.”
Hawley added that he told Kennedy that being able to have mifepristone “mailed anywhere” is “a huge problem” and that Kennedy “acknowledged that.”
“He said that he would follow President Trump’s direction on this,” Hawley told reporters. “I certainly hope that means that they will return mifepristone to the earlier rules and allow the voters to decide on the issue.”
Asked by NOTUS on Capitol Hill if he wanted to reimpose restrictions on abortion pills, Kennedy did not respond. Trump’s transition team and Kennedy’s team did not respond to requests for comment.
Mifepristone, the first pill in a common two-step medication abortion regimen, was available only in person until the COVID-19 pandemic. The Food and Drug Administration got rid of the in-person dispensing requirements in 2021. The agency then announced in December of that year that it would make the changes permanent. In early 2023, after Roe v. Wade had been overturned, access to the pill was further expanded, allowing retail pharmacies to offer it.
Kennedy’s views on abortion have prompted a closer look from Republican senators, many of whom oppose access to abortion. During his own presidential run, Kennedy said that he supported Roe v. Wade protections for abortion. He also said that “every abortion is a tragedy” and that the number of abortions should decrease.
Kennedy’s meeting with Hawley wasn’t the only one in which abortion came up. Sen. James Lankford, who also opposes abortion access, said that while they didn’t talk about abortion pills specifically, Kennedy “was pretty clear that the first Trump administration HHS was a pro-life entity, and it will be again.”
During an April interview, Kennedy was asked if he was worried about abortion pills, to which he responded by saying that he was “worried about every pharmaceutical drug.” He said that he would not rescind the FDA’s authorization that pharmacies be able to dispense abortion pills but that he was concerned about the drug’s side effects. Abortion pills are considered safe and effective by leading medical organizations.
Trump has given mixed responses as to what his stance is on abortion pills. Recently, Time asked him if he would “vow” to “not do anything to limit access,” and he responded initially by saying, “We’re going to take a look at all of that.” When pressed, Trump said it “would be my commitment” to make sure the FDA does not strip people’s ability to access medication abortion.
That response doesn’t seem to have discouraged the president-elect’s anti-abortion allies.
“We need to understand the way President Trump thinks and acts, he’s transactional,” Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, told NOTUS. “He’s always open to getting new information, and he’s always open, if the need arises or if it seems right at a particular point, to adjusting things if he thinks it’s going to be in the best interest of the American people.”
Pavone suggested that if Trump had been asked about restrictions on abortion pills in a different way — such as by framing the question around the impact on “the health and safety of women” — the answer may have been different.
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Oriana González is a reporter at NOTUS. Margaret Manto contributed reporting.