I’m a Conservative. Here’s Why I Support Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

When President Trump nominated Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. for HHS Secretary in late 2024, some Beltway Republicans tried to tank his nomination. For conservatives, these critics’ strongest argument was that Kennedy was for decades a liberal Democrat who supported abortion on demand.

I’m a pro-life conservative. So why did I, along with millions of others like me, support Kennedy’s nomination and tell skeptical pro-life critics to give him the benefit of the doubt?

For me, the story starts with the COVID lockdowns in 2020. I spent the better part of that year co-authoring the first book to make the case that locking down the population would do far more harm than good. COVID was the greatest test of wisdom and courage in a generation. Most public officials, from both parties, failed the test. Kennedy aced it.

The raspy-voiced lawyer helped millions of Americans see the dangers of a “biomedical security state” that blurred the binary mental map of free versus communist countries that had served us well during the Cold War. That framework was of limited value for fighting this new, domestic threat to our civil and medical freedom: a corporatist state.

Post-Covid, millions of Americans realized our problem was not just Big Government or Big Business. The problem is, in effect, a cartel that blurs the lines of public and private — one often enabled by a corporate media too dependent on ad revenue to speak truth to the real power.

The lockdowns and draconian vaccine mandates taught another lesson: past partisan ties do not guarantee good future results. For many of us, resisting the COVID-inspired assaults on our liberty was a better credential than party affiliation.

This is one of several reasons millions of conservative voters began to warm to Kennedy, even if they planned to vote for Donald Trump in the general election. And that latent support for Kennedy exploded after he announced his support for Donald Trump on August 23, 2024.

This was no mere marriage of convenience. It was the first sign of a political realignment. No doubt many staunch progressives abandoned Kennedy when he endorsed Donald Trump. But many independents and disgruntled Democrats stayed. A new MAGA-MAHA coalition was born.

What made Kennedy’s endorsement of Trump truly historic was the topic he chose to elevate — one of deep concern to tens of millions of American families across the political spectrum but mostly missing from our two major party platforms: the staggering rise of chronic diseases among American children.

As HHS secretary, Kennedy has made the fight against childhood chronic disease his lodestar. And despite constant efforts by critics to paint him as extreme, almost everyone is now taking chronic disease seriously.

But what about the year-old charge that Kennedy would be a cheerleader for abortion? It was wrong. As HHS Secretary, he lacks the power to stop all abortions or close every Planned Parenthood clinic. Kennedy must also work within the constraints of the president who nominated him. But within Kennedy’s remit, his actions have been encouraging.

Last September, for instance, he announced a new FDA review of the safety and approval process of the abortion pill mifepristone. Abortion advocates are not pleased. After all, in a Post-Roe world, most abortions are chemical, not surgical.

In late January, he beefed up federal conscience safeguards for healthcare workers. This protects providers from being forced to participate in abortions or other procedures. This includes new policy guidance and investigations into violations.

Most dramatically, he has just barred HHS-funded research from using human fetal tissue from elective abortions. Pro-life Americans have asked for this ban for decades. The practice continued even during the tenure of NIH director Francis Collins, an evangelical Christian, who explicitly defended it.

Like Nixon visiting China, I hope Kennedy will do more to defend pre-born human life. It’s not a vain hope. During one telling interview last year, Kennedy denounced a CDC publication that listed “abortion” as one of the top 10 health achievements of the 20th century.

The press “fact-checked” the comment, since the document he likely had in mind listed “family planning” rather than “abortion.” (Pro-life advocates recognize the family planning as a euphemism for abortion.) But most missed the crucial “tell”: Kennedy recoiled from the notion that abortion could be cited as a health care achievement.

For pro-life conservatives, supporting Kennedy’s nomination posed some risk. One year in, however, my choice to support Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is an easy one.

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Jay W. Richards, PhD, is Vice President for Social and Domestic Policy at The Heritage Foundation.

The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.