It’s official: Robert F. Kennedy (RFK), Jr., long a fountain of disinformation on health care in America, will serve as a critical mouthpiece for anti-abortion propagandists in his newly confirmed post as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In two Senate confirmation hearings at the end of January, Kennedy made and defended baseless and objectively false claims about a host of issues — including vaccine safety, health care needs for Black Americans, and HIV/AIDS — and, of course, on abortion and reproductive health care more broadly. His blatant lack of knowledge and mealy-mouthed evasions on abortion put on stark display what we already knew: where Kennedy cannot lead the HHS, Trump and the anti-abortion leaders whispering in his ears will fill in the blanks.

In front of both the Senate Committee on Finance and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), Kennedy declared he would “serve at the pleasure of the president.” When it came to abortion, however, this declaration was more often a deflection, evident of Kennedy’s inability to respond coherently or concretely to questions any candidate to lead the HHS ought to be able to answer. Over nearly seven hours across two days, Kennedy proved unequipped and/or unwilling to answer questions regarding his plans for Title X funding, his determination on the safety of abortion pills, or any line of inquiry which required basic knowledge of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) or indeed, the fundamental operations of the department he will now lead.

Kennedy was, however, clear on one thing: He’ll do whatever Trump directs him to do.

When Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) asked Kennedy if he would continue to grant Title X funding to health care facilities that provide abortion care, Kennedy replied, “I’m going to support President Trump’s policies … he wants to end federal funding of abortions, here or abroad, as Title X,” and affirmed this the following day when asked by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO). While Kennedy may not know his own mind on reproductive rights, he seemed to know Trump’s, telling senators that Trump “wants to end late-term abortions,” a non-medical propaganda term many anti-abortion operatives use, and that Trump “wants to protect conscious exemptions.” Presumably by this, Kennedy meant conscience objections, which is anti-rights framing for refusal clauses which would allow medical professionals to refuse to provide abortion care based on their personal religious beliefs.

When Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) asked Kennedy in the Finance Committee hearing if he will work with the FDA Commissioner to review (read: eliminate) actions taken by the Biden administration to increase access to mifepristone, Kennedy replied that Trump “has not yet taken a stand on how to regulate [mifepristone].” The next day, Kennedy told the HELP Committee that he would “implement [Trump’s] policy,” whatever it might be, on abortion pill access and regulation. Upon further questioning, Kennedy claimed he will solicit input from the HELP Committee on conducting studies to verify the safety of mifepristone, to which Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) replied, “That shows that this is the first time you’re being considered for a Cabinet position, because no other person would ever solicit and willingly approve our participation.” Notably, dozens of studies on the safety of mifepristone were entered into the record across both hearings. To be clear: abortion, including medication abortion, is safe and effective, and the science proves that.

When Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) asked in the HELP Committee hearing if Kennedy will uphold a prior commitment to hiring anti-abortion deputies into the HHS, Kennedy predictably replied that he will defer to Trump. When Sen. Scott pushed him on the question, Kennedy affirmed he will hire anti-abortion employees into the HHS, again citing Trump’s anti-abortion views. This is perhaps one of the least surprising commitments Kennedy made during his hearings, considering the HHS was stacked with anti-abortion leaders during Trump’s first term, including Charmaine Yoest, former CEO of Americans United for Life, as Assistant Secretary of HHS for Public Affairs.

Kennedy’s responses to questions about EMTALA, the federal law that governs and guarantees access to emergency medical care and which has recently been the subject of several high-visibility lawsuits, even reaching the Supreme Court level, were particularly troubling. Current questions over EMTALA deal with whether federal law preempts state abortion law in protecting the health, not just the life, of a pregnant person. Sen. Catherine Cortez-Masto (D-NV) of the Finance Committee invoked these recent EMTALA cases, asking Kennedy if he agreed that federal law protects the right to emergency abortion care in a state where abortion is banned. Kennedy responded: “I don’t know. The answer to that is I don’t know.” When Sen. Cortez-Masto pushed further, asking Kennedy what authority he would have over EMTALA as director of HHS, he replied, “I don’t even think we have a law enforcement branch at HHS.” To which Sen. Cortez-Masto responded, “Actually, you do.”

If Kennedy displayed any stick-to-itiveness on abortion in his hearings, it was in repeating that he has “always believed abortion is a tragedy.” While it’s true that Kennedy has expressed this sentiment before, and has platformed anti-science opinions on reproductive care in general (like his former running mate Nicole Shanahan’s opposition to IVF), he has also been explicit that he does not believe the government should be involved in decisions regarding abortion care. In 2023, for example, Kennedy claimed, “I’m pro-choice. I don’t think there’s anybody in this country who has worked harder for medical freedom, for bodily autonomy, than me…I don’t think the government has any business telling people what they can and cannot do with their body…I think the worst solution is if the government is involved in decision that should belong to a woman.”

Beyond the scope of abortion care, Kennedy made numerous uninformed and anti-science claims, such as that six-year-old children have “basically a zero risk for Covid” (untrue), “Black [people] need fewer antigens [than white people]” (untrue and racist), and that vaccines may cause autism (they don’t). He clearly did not know the difference between Medicare and Medicaid, using the two programs, which provide distinctly different services, interchangeably. He also denied any wrongdoing in the sexual assault allegations brought against him, despite, as Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) noted, having texted an apology to his accuser.

If there is any absolute truth to come out of RFK Jr.’s confirmation hearings, it’s that he is uninformed, unqualified, and unfit to be the director of any government department, but especially the HHS. The circus continues, and Kennedy’s confirmation is certain to be just the beginning of another dangerous act with disastrous implications for the health, safety, and wellbeing of this country.