Cool! Josh Hawley Says He Expects RFK Will Restrict Abortion Pills

About two-thirds of abortions in the U.S. are medication abortions, but that could change quickly under the incoming Trump administration. The president-elect himself has hedged on where he stands, suggesting he wouldn’t touch the matter, but then recently, and predictably, declaring that “things change.” 

Under the current administration, abortion providers can mail the pills, including to states where abortion is banned, and without an in-person consultation. But according to Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Trump’s pick for secretary of health and human services, will likely change these rules. In fact, Hawley reportedly told reporters that Kennedy “pledged” to change them.

“It would be a wise idea to return to the rule under the last Trump administration, which required in-person dispensing” of abortion pills, Hawley said to a Capitol press pool. He continued, “He [Kennedy] acknowledged all of that, I think, seemed to understand it.” Hawley further claimed that Kennedy told him during their meeting that “there are far too many abortions in the U.S. and that we cannot be the moral leader of the free world with abortion rates so high.” Kennedy is currently making the rounds with GOP senators to try to secure the votes he needs to get confirmed and assuage the concerns of some senators on his abortion record and his position on the polio vaccine.

If in-person dispensing requirements for abortion pills are reinstated, not only could abortion be pushed out-of-reach altogether for large swaths of the country, but abortion clinics in states where the procedure is legal will be further overwhelmed. Several studies this year have shown that despite abortion bans, the abortion rate has remained relatively consistent through the help of access to medication abortion by mail. That’s not to say abortion bans haven’t thrown abortion access into chaos—only that abortion pills by mail have served as a lifeline, and one that the Trump administration seems poised to take away.

During his short-lived campaign for president, Kennedy took up a range of positions on abortion, including, at varying points, supporting a federal ban and then backing a right to abortion until viability. Now, his abortion position seems to be whatever GOP senators ask of him in order to get confirmed. Some anti-abortion groups are reportedly trying to appeal to Kennedy’s notorious nuttiness and affinity for health-related conspiracy theories by pushing the lie that embryonic remains from medication abortions are poisoning the water supply. This… is not a thing!

“Will you restrict the availability of abortion pills when you’re in office?” NBC’s Kristen Welker asked Trump earlier this month. He replied, “I’ll probably stay with exactly what I’ve been saying for the last two years. And the answer is no.” But when asked if he’ll “commit to that,” he refused: “Will I commit, I mean… things change. I think they change.”

Between Trump’s noncommittal language and Hawley’s assurances on where Kennedy stands on medication abortion, things are looking good for Project 2025—the far-right Heritage Foundation’s agenda for Trump’s second term. The 900-page blueprint details how key federal agencies can all but ban medication abortion, through the FDA revoking its approval, HHS reinstating old requirements, and the Justice Department enforcing the Comstock Act of 1873 to prohibit the mailing of pills.

Hawley has his own connections to the crusade on abortion pills: Last year, his wife represented plaintiffs in a lawsuit seeking to restore medically unnecessary restrictions on abortion pills. On Wednesday, he also tweeted that Kennedy committed to reinstating the global gag rule, a policy that strips reproductive health organizations of federal funding if they offer or “promote” abortion services abroad.

“[Kennedy] said President Trump has not given him direction yet on this issue, but he will absolutely do whatever President Trump wants to do, that he will not put his thumb on the scale for any pro-choice position,” Hawley told reporters.

Taken altogether, now seems like a great time to heed the advice of groups like Plan C Pills and buy some abortion pills in advance, whether you’re pregnant or not.