Chicago (AP) People on all sides of the abortion debate are keeping a careful eye on Donald Trump’s Cabinet as it starts to take shape in order to get a sense of how his choices may impact reproductive rights policy during the president-elect’s second term.
Following his many vacillations on the abortion issue during the campaign, Trump’s cabinet choices provide a sneak peek at how his administration might approach the topic. Despite bragging about appointing three Supreme Court judges who assisted in overturning the constitutional protections for abortion that had been in place for fifty years, he made an effort to disassociate himself from pro-abortion supporters by deferring to states on abortion legislation.
Trump stated that he has no plans to restrict pharmaceutical abortion in an interview with NBC News that aired on Sunday, but he also seemed to keep the possibility open by stating that things may change.
He stated, “I don’t think it’s going to change at all, but things do change.”
Anti-abortion organizations have responded to his new administration’s early roster, which includes nominations to head the Justice Department, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and health agencies, in a mixed but largely positive manner.
FILE – Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at a campaign event, Sept. 27, 2024 in Walker, Mich. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
Associated Press/Carlos Osorio photo
Trump’s decision to exclude more candidates with strong connections to the anti-abortion movement may signal that abortion will not be a top priority for his administration, according to experts on abortion law.
Greer Donley, an associate professor of law at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, said it virtually raises the possibility that President Trump is reorienting his government.
While many of the nominees have a long history of opposing reproductive health care, some do not, according to Karen Stone, vice president of public policy at the Planned Parenthood Action Fund. She advised against drawing conclusions from Trump’s first cabinet choices.
Even if they do not have direct connections to anti-abortion activists, many of the nominees have strong anti-abortion views, which is one reason why many abortion rights organizations are cautious. They fear that a government that is made up of high-ranking individuals who personally oppose abortion may take action to limit funding and access to the surgery.
Mary Ruth Ziegler, a law professor at the University of California, Davis School of Law, stated that there is still much to learn about the nature of the policy following Trump’s ambivalence over abortion during his campaign. When the personnel in the important departments are announced, that strategy can become clear.
Trump declared he would appoint Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine activist, to head the Health and Human Services Department, which anti-abortion groups have long cited as being essential to restricting access to abortion across the country. However, during his own presidential campaign, Kennedy changed his position on the matter.
Although there is no set timeframe, Kennedy stated in campaign films that he favors access to abortions until they are viable, which medical professionals say is sometime after 21 weeks. However, he also stated that abortion is a tragedy and supported a nationwide ban on the procedure after 15 weeks of pregnancy, a position he swiftly abandoned.
The director of Health and Human Services has broad control over organizations that directly impact access to abortion, such as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Food and Drug Administration, and is in charge of overseeing Title X financing for a variety of family planning services. The position is particularly crucial in the midst of legal disputes over the FDA’s approval of the abortion medication mifepristone and a federal legislation called EMTALA, which President Joe Biden’s administration has said mandates emergency abortion access nationally.
Kennedy is an incompetent, unqualified fanatic who cannot be trusted to safeguard American families’ reproductive freedom, safety, and health, according to Mini Timmaraju, head of the national abortion rights group Reproductive Freedom for All.
The anti-abortion movement has also been agitated by his possible nomination. The Senate was persuaded to reject Kennedy’s nomination by former Vice President Mike Pence, who is a strong opponent of abortion. The head of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, a nationwide anti-abortion organization, Marjorie Dannenfelser, stated that the organization has its own reservations regarding Kennedy.
We definitely need a pro-life HHS secretary, she stated.
Trump appointed Fox News journalist Mary Makary to head the FDA, which is crucial to access to contraceptive and abortion drugs. He has been charged by abortion rights organizations with spreading false information about abortion on television.
The nomination for head of the Office of Management and Budget goes to Russell Vought, a conservative who is adamantly opposed to abortion. One of the main designers of Project 2025, a conservative plan for managing the federal government, was Vought. It asks for reducing Medicaid financing for abortion, banning medical abortion statewide, and limiting access to contraceptive services, particularly long-acting reversible contraceptives like IUDs, among other measures to restrict reproductive rights.
Trump is filling his government with individuals who were instrumental in the creation of Project 2025, even though he distanced himself from the conservative platform during the campaign.
In his Sunday interview with NBC News, Trump admitted that the report’s drafters will be a part of his new administration, stating, “I happen to agree with many of those things.”
Amy Williams Navarro, director of government relations for Reproductive Freedom for All, stated that these cabinet selections all attest to the reality that Project 2025 was, in fact, the blueprint all along and that the concern we saw about it was justified.
Trump’s pick to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Dr. Mehmet Oz, is a former talk show presenter who has been charged with peddling fraudulent medical procedures and goods. He expressed conflicting opinions on abortion during his unsuccessful 2022 Senate campaign.
Oz has declared himself to be a fervent supporter of life, hailed the Supreme Court’s ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade, asserted that life begins at conception, and called abortion “murder.”However, he has also repeated Trump’s states-rights stance, contending that abortion decisions shouldn’t be made by the federal government.
During a Senate debate two years ago, he stated, “I want women, doctors, local political leaders, letting the democracy that has always allowed our nation to thrive to put the best ideas forward so states can decide for themselves.”
His Senate campaign was thwarted by a number of reproductive rights organizations. Oz would be in a crucial position to assess Medicaid coverage for family planning services and look into possible EMTALA breaches in his role as CMS administrator.
Pam Bondi, the attorney general of Florida, supported limitations on abortion, such as a 24-hour waiting time. She is currently Trump’s pick for attorney general.
Abortion rights organizations are worried that she would bring back the Comstock Act, an anti-vice statute imposed by Congress in 1873 that, among other things, forbids the sending of abortion-related medications or equipment, while opponents of abortion are applauding her appointment.
David Weldon, a former congressman from Florida who is anti-abortion and anti-vaccine, has been appointed to head the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which gathers and tracks abortion data nationwide.
In the midst of an apolitical dispute over abortion access and financing for troops and veterans, Trump appointed former Republican congressman Doug Collins to head the Department of Veterans Affairs. Collins applauded the reversal of Roe v. Wade and voted repeatedly to limit access to and financing for abortion.
Kristin Hawkins, president of Students for Life, a major anti-abortion group, stated that the pro-life movement can collaborate with this team.
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