Today, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. began his two-day hearing in front of the United States Senate to defend his nomination by President Donald Trump to become the head of the Department of Health and Human Services. Kennedy, the face of the Make America Healthy Again movement, holds controversial opinions on many public-health matters, such as vaccine skepticism, removing fluoride from water, and drinking raw milk. If confirmed in this role, Kennedy will oversee many powerful federal agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The topics covered in the hearing were wide-ranging, including regenerative farming, vaccines, autism, and whether Kennedy compared the CDC to Nazi death camps. But many female senators were quick to bring up another major talking point: bodily autonomy and a woman’s right to make her own medical decisions. Here are some women who broached the subject and how the conversations fared.
Senator Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire
During her five-minute questioning, Senator Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire chose to focus her questioning on abortion—and specifically Kennedy’s contradictory stance on the issue. Senator Hassan cited two different instances where Kennedy went on the record as being pro-choice. “Mr. Kennedy, I am confused,” she began. “You have clearly stated in the past that bodily autonomy is one of your core values. The question is do you stand for that value or not? When was it that you decided to sell out the values that you have had your whole life in order to be given power by President Trump?”
Senator Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada
For Senator Cortez Masto of Nevada, her main focus was on whether emergency abortions will continue to be performed in hospitals. She asked Kennedy if the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, which is enforced by the Department of Health and Human Services, would continue to protect both a woman’s right to an emergency abortion when her life is at risk (women typically receive an emergency abortion due to a medical complication like an incomplete miscarriage or placental abruption) and the clinician’s right to perform the treatment. “It’s important you do not play politics with a patient presenting at the ER based on a position this administration has taken,” Senator Cortez Masto said. Kennedy never answered the senator’s question but instead repeatedly stated: “I agree with President Trump that every abortion is a tragedy.”
Senator Tina Smith of Minnesota
During her tenure, Senator Tina Smith of Minnesota has lowered the price of medication, improved access to mental health services, and advocated for the Native tribes in her state. “I don’t have a question for you on abortion,” Senator Smith said at the opening of her session with Kennedy. “What’s clear to me is that you and President Trump are dangerous to women’s access to mifepristone.” Instead, Smith chose to open up about her past history as a new mother on selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and how Kennedy has harmfully connected mental health drugs to school shooters. “Do you think people who take antidepressants are dangerous?” Smith asked, bringing up that in the past Kennedy had compared people taking SSRIs to heroin addicts. Kennedy claimed this was a mischaracterization of his past comments, but Senator Smith countered that “This is a conversation for a patient and their doctor, not for the head of HHS to be putting out mischaracterizations about the dangers of SSRIs.”
