Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been chosen by president-elect Donald Trump to be Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). From a Catholic perspective, there are serious problems with that choice.
First and foremost is Kennedy’s position on abortion. It might be more accurate to say his positions on abortion. For most of his career he has been a staunch supporter of abortion-on-demand, but now he says he favors some restrictions.
Kennedy didn’t evolve over the years on this issue. He did so recently when it became apparent that if Trump were to win the election he may land some post in the administration. Being pro-abortion, he obviously reasoned, could be a real problem, especially if he were up for the HHS job.
When Kennedy was asked by former ESPN commentator, Sage Steele, whether there should be any limits on abortion, he said no. “Even if it is full term…I don’t think it’s ever OK…I think we have to leave it with the woman rather than the state.” He didn’t say that ten years ago. He said it in May of this year.
It gets worse. Literally three days after the Steele interview, Kennedy said abortion should be permitted only before viability.
There are other issues that should give Catholics pause. In December 2023 he told political commentator Patrick Bet-David that he did not support a ban on “gender affirming” care for minors. Why? Because he did not “know enough about it to say that it should be completely illegal,” and he needed “to look at the data” before making a decision.
But guess what? In May he decided he supported a ban on minors receiving “gender affirming” care.
Kennedy not only wants to make marijuana legal nationwide, he wants to legalize some psychedelics. That would presumably include psilocybin (magic mushrooms), the most popular psychedelic in the nation. He believes that there are significant benefits to psychedelics that have not been uncovered because the medical establishment has gone out of its way to prevent that research.
Here’s what we know about magic mushrooms. They can cause frightening hallucinations, distorted thinking, impaired concentration, unusual body sensations, nausea and vomiting, paranoia, confusion and emotions ranging from bliss to terror.
The fundamental problem with Kennedy is that he lacks a coherent understanding of these issues. He has no overriding philosophical vision.
He spent his entire life defending abortion-without-limits, and had no problem justifying puberty blockers, chemical castration and mutilating the genitals of disturbed minors—until he experienced his grand epiphany in May. That must have been quite a month for him. And now he thinks we need to make it easier for Americans to hallucinate.
This is Robert F. Kennedy’s vision of health and human services. It’s not ours.
