RFK Jr. running mate shares views on abortion after Arizona ruling

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s running mate, Nicole Shanahan, shared her views on abortion in a lengthy post online after the Arizona Supreme Court abortion law made national news Tuesday.

“People are asking about my views on abortion,” Shanahan’s post on X, formerly Twitter, began.

Shanahan, recently named Kennedy’s vice-presidential candidate, is a mother to one child with Google co-founder Sergey Brin.

She said that as a mother, she doesn’t “like the feeling of anyone having control over my body.” As a woman, she said she “would not feel right terminating a viable life” insider of her, especially if she and the fetus were healthy.

“I can hold both beliefs, as someone who believes in the sacredness of life, simultaneously,” she said.

The Arizona Supreme Court Tuesday upheld a law from 1864 that makes performing an abortion a felony, reigniting the debate about reproductive rights following the 2022 reversal of Roe v. Wade.

The Arizona law overturns a 15-week abortion ban and has no exceptions for rape or incest. The only exception is “when it is necessary” to save the life of the pregnant person.

Shanahan said in her post that there are “a number of extenuating circumstances” that would lead her to get an abortion, including her health, the health of the baby and “what happens to that baby if that baby is being born into a situation that cannot sustain a good and healthy life.”

“In the situation of economic considerations, I support bringing babies into the world through community support of BOTH mother and baby. I think all mothers carrying a healthy baby want what is best for their baby,” she said. “Let’s help them do just that.”

The new vice-presidential candidate said she and Kennedy are “dedicated to bringing to light solutions in the best interest of mother and baby.”