I read Jessica Valenti, and this is what she wrote about RFK Jr’s confirmation hearings today:
RFK Jr. Accidentally Reveals Trump’s Plan on Abortion
Kennedy drops hints on mifepristone, emergency abortion, and the possibility of a national ban in his Senate confirmation hearing.
Jessica Valenti
Jan 29
Here we go: At his confirmation hearing today, RFK Jr. revealed how the Trump administration is thinking about restricting abortion—dropping hints not just about mifepristone, but abortion ‘complication’ reporting, emergency abortions, and the possibility of a national ban. (Yes, really.)
Watch key excerpts here with more details below, and click to skip ahead to a particular section: Mifepristone, Abortion Reporting, Emergency Abortions, National Ban on ‘Late’ Abortions
Mifepristone
Kennedy, Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, said that the president wants him to look at “safety issues” around mifepristone:
“President Trump has asked me to study the safety of mifepristone. He has not yet taken a stand on how to regulate it. Whenever he does, I will implement those policies.”As you likely know, mifepristone has been safely used to end pregnancies for decades, and all credible studies show that the drug is safe and effective. But anti-abortion groups claim otherwise, publishing misleading and false ‘research’ that says the medication puts women’s health and lives in danger.
In fact, their studies are so false that they’ve been retracted by publishers. But anti-abortion activists know Americans overwhelmingly oppose abortion bans, so they see feigning concern for women’s health as their best shot at restricting the medication.
Kennedy’s claim that Trump wants to “study” mifepristone’s safety signals that the White House will use a similar strategy when making their own moves against the medication. Whatever rollbacks they impose, they’ll frame as being in women’s best interest.
That might mean reinstating the FDA’s pre-2016 restrictions on mifepristone, limiting its use to the first 7 weeks of pregnancy and requiring patients to see a provider in person—effectively blocking access to abortion pills by mail. Republicans could also invoke the Comstock Act to ban the shipping of abortion medication, framing it as a measure to ‘protect’ women from a so-called ‘dangerous’ drug.
Abortion Reporting
It wasn’t just Kennedy’s answers that signaled the White House’s next moves—the GOP’s loaded questions did, too. A key hint came when two Republican senators raised concerns about the “adverse” side effects of mifepristone, implying that women aren’t being properly warned about potential risks.Sen. James Lankford, for example, claimed the FDA doesn’t report on mifepristone complications unless someone dies. “Literally, don’t give transparent information to the American people or to the women who take this drug anymore, we don’t want that reported,” he said.
And Sen. Steve Daines laid in the FDA for supposedly “ending reporting requirements for adverse events,” claiming that “3 to 5% of women taking this drug end up in the emergency room.”
In response, Kennedy said, “I think it’s immoral to have a policy where patients are not allowed to report adverse events or doctors are discouraged from doing that.”
Leaving aside the misleading statistic about emergency rooms for a moment (which I debunk here), it’s simply not true that the FDA prohibits reporting adverse events or that they ended reporting requirements for the drug. What the agency did do is to eliminate extra reporting requirements; that means adverse events for mifepristone are reported in the same way as all other prescriptions medications.
These lies come straight from anti-abortion groups like Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America and the Charlotte Lozier Institute. They push for burdensome, unnecessary reporting rules that deliberately—and falsely— inflate abortion ‘complication’ rates.
In fact, Abortion, Every Day has warned many times over about Republicans’ plan to use fake ‘complication’ data to restrict abortion; and it’s something that’s already happening in multiple states.
The fact that two GOP senators pressed Kennedy on mifepristone side effects and reporting—and that he responded the way he did—signals that Republicans and the Trump administration are gearing up for a major push on this issue. And because abortion reporting features heavily in Project 2025, we already have a preview of their playbook: The conservative roadmap calls for funding for studies on the “risks and complications of abortion,” research that “explores the harms, both mental and physical, that abortion has wrought on women and girls,” and a mandate that the CDC collect data on “abortion-related maternal deaths.”
You can finish reading Jessica’s evaluation of his testimony and what it means for abortion rights in the country – go to the link above.
Michelle_BYoung (@michelle_byoung) posted at 2:16 PM on Fri, Jan 31, 2025:
Putin sent him to destroy us from within. First our reputation in the world, our foreign policy (so we can’t operate as a check on him) & to make us weaker we will have a food crises, and maybe even another pandemic while he guts the institutions responsible for those things
(https://x.com/michelle_byoung/status/1885421815490564437?t=Zjj16FwUAng6Mn62zn9cnQ&s=03)
Propane Jane™ 🔥💣 (@docrocktex26) posted at 2:05 PM on Fri, Jan 31, 2025:
Seems so obvious that as Putin’s puppet, his primary objective is destroying all of our alliances, beginning with the countries we share a continent/borders with. Literally pulling us into an axis of evil while the most uneducated and bigoted among us cheer and troll.
Propane Jane™ 🔥💣 (@docrocktex26) posted at 2:31 PM on Fri, Jan 31, 2025:
Precisely. And tens of millions of Americans (mostly White) are hoping and praying he’s successful, that’s the truly deplorable part. All b/c they hate Black people and we had a stellar Black POTUS for 8 years. Just burning it all down with Putin b/c of envy, stupidity & spite. https://t.co/m2jjZcYCFQ
(https://x.com/docrocktex26/status/1885425682647281918?t=GUaeRrJ01EwXvKwLBSiCqg&s=03)
I had no idea about these women. These Hidden Figures who also helped get the astronauts to the moon.
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8YRoXJB/
One of my colleagues’ husband is public policy person that deals with HIV.
He just called him and told him that nearly all HIV content has been REMOVED FROM THE CDC’S WEBSITE.
Acyn (@Acyn) posted at 3:57 PM on Fri, Jan 31, 2025:
Trump on federal workforce: Everybody is replaceable. We will get very good people to replace them. But we love to have them leave. Remember this, we want them to go into the private sector. It is our dream to have everybody working at the private sector, not the public sector. https://t.co/3zdxuHB3CO
(https://x.com/Acyn/status/1885447437495787574?t=IyZFaATqhaCt6tBRuujnDw&s=03)
Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) posted at 4:01 PM on Fri, Jan 31, 2025:
Wealthy people joining the government is not new, but the levels of extreme wealth in the new Trump administration are unprecedented, and bring up lots of potential ethics problems. https://t.co/4NzhZRZ2oW
(https://x.com/CREWcrew/status/1885448220253323487?t=7WV5z6UWZQb0zX346S8F1Q&s=03)
Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) posted at 3:49 PM on Fri, Jan 31, 2025:
BREAKING: Trump officials are putting a pause on most federal government websites. They are expected to go dark at 5 p.m., Trump officials told me. @CBSNews
(https://x.com/JenniferJJacobs/status/1885445212270375024?t=zdKH77JT9kF4JUo3fAY_Ag&s=03)
Tom Bonier (@tbonier) posted at 9:25 AM on Thu, Jan 30, 2025:
We currently do not have an FAA Administrator, because the previous one was forced out by the billionaire who got Trump elected and was given unchecked authority in return. He was forced out because he tried to fine the billionaire’s space company for operating unsafely.
(https://x.com/tbonier/status/1884986282117316616?t=09hHV1AldAOlsojD2_aUaA&s=03)
Paul Blumenthal (@PaulBlu) posted at 3:23 PM on Wed, Jan 29, 2025:
NEW: A confidential OMB document shows that the Trump administration’s funding freeze is part of plan to provoke a court challenge over the Impoundment Control Act: https://t.co/6AdB7c5x0u
(https://x.com/PaulBlu/status/1884714097351987539?t=vedo7gG_ePqPstsxCNwDqg&s=03)
Cornell Belcher (@cornellbelcher) posted at 11:09 AM on Thu, Jan 30, 2025:
America deserves better than this. To use this tragedy to push a blatant ugly racial political agenda is absolutely appalling. It’s not ok. It’s abhorrent. It’s unimaginable that a President would stand before us and dishonor the role of the office this way. Not us.
(https://x.com/cornellbelcher/status/1885012472072998933?t=3tlvX7IqLXPoGRRdSk9D5Q&s=03)
Jim Acosta (@Acosta) posted at 11:23 AM on Thu, Jan 30, 2025:
About the presidency, Harry Truman famously said “the buck stops here.” Trump is trying to pass the buck and blame everybody but his administration for the DC plane crash. This is a time for consoling the families and investigating the cause of this tragedy, not shameful finger pointing
(https://x.com/Acosta/status/1885016067883274458?t=Jw0XYV3qBIR0zv9YGyKfbg&s=03)
Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) posted at 11:30 AM on Thu, Jan 30, 2025:
Doug and I are heartbroken by the tragic plane and helicopter crash at DCA last night. Our prayers are with the victims and all those who loved them, and we are grateful for the first responders who are undertaking heroic search and recovery efforts.
(https://x.com/KamalaHarris/status/1885017762524811314?t=3H23SJSrooYqXtwVKTb15g&s=03)
Krystal Ball (@krystalball) posted at 10:43 AM on Thu, Jan 30, 2025:
Trump blaming DEI for the crash after spending his first week in office letting a billionaire take a wrecking ball to the federal government INCLUDING the FAA. Insanity inducing.
(https://x.com/krystalball/status/1885005868099387597?t=zwsWlXbeOuU5CnbkJpg4hQ&s=03)
Marlene Robertson (@marlene4719) posted at 9:32 PM on Wed, Jan 29, 2025:
So if Biden fired the heads of TSA, the Coast Guard and key aviation safety advisers, and a week later two aircraft’s collide, then that would put the blame on him…. Right?
(https://x.com/marlene4719/status/1884806910521561478?t=3PTC_MUna6y5DnEPcN_4OQ&s=03)
philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) posted at 2:32 PM on Thu, Jan 30, 2025:
WASHINGTON (AP) — Staffing was ‘not normal’ in air traffic control tower at time of midair collision, FAA report obtained by AP says.
(https://x.com/Phil_Lewis_/status/1885063502034817107?t=4iaN2g9TXcdM3j5K79foVg&s=03)
scary lawyerguy (@scarylawyerguy) posted at 1:50 PM on Thu, Jan 30, 2025:
Again, the media does not treat Trump like he is the actual President who should be doing things in the wake of a tragedy. Rather, he is just a content farm for them to fill column space, their social media feeds, and segments on cable news.
(https://x.com/scarylawyerguy/status/1885053016580976656?t=CUDYspJmw9tJo3yIpfsUqQ&s=03)
Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) posted at 2:59 PM on Thu, Jan 30, 2025:
Trump’s Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy just sent out a memo directing staff to “give preference to
communities with marriage and birth rates higher than the national average” https://t.co/O1EIxjUPdz
(https://x.com/kenklippenstein/status/1885070288573845735?t=0T9MfZBLBR_ra8HsPYGiTA&s=03)
Ritchie Torres (@RitchieTorres) posted at 3:25 PM on Thu, Jan 30, 2025:
The FAA has 3000 fewer air traffic controllers than it needs to operate effectively. There are air traffic control centers whose staffing levels fall short by as much as 60%. In the case of the latest tragedy, one air traffic controller had the workload of two controllers.
President Trump’s hiring freeze on air traffic controllers will only deepen the workforce shortages that have put aviation safety at risk. He should rescind it.
(https://x.com/RitchieTorres/status/1885076967227351265?t=Apu8ZPNJNIDIku2_UDSn8A&s=03)
Acyn (@Acyn) posted at 4:20 PM on Thu, Jan 30, 2025:
Jessica: When you talk about staffing issues, sure the control room is a problem, but you know what else is a problem? That there is no head of the FAA because he resigned, for months Elon Musk had been trying to push him out… https://t.co/qO3RsangV9
(https://x.com/Acyn/status/1885090834707865652?t=Zz3YnHKQdJkLccqcmjkqUA&s=03)
evan loves worf (@esjesjesj) posted at 2:03 PM on Thu, Jan 30, 2025:
-cis straight white airplane pilot
-cis straight white helicopter pilot
-cis straight white air traffic controller
-cis straight white FAA administrator fired by cis straight white president and cis straight white billionaire https://t.co/wIkoa2NaUQ
(https://x.com/esjesjesj/status/1885056231863197705?t=8RQlFPmRMQZXQldxB7uzsw&s=03)
Symone D. Sanders Townsend (@SymoneDSanders) posted at 1:53 PM on Thu, Jan 30, 2025:
President Trump has consistently been who we saw from the podium today. Despite his excruciatingly consistent behavior many – some reporters, people who host tv shows, elected officials and people who voted for him have worked to sanitized his comments along the way and tell us he’s changed.
He hasn’t.
May today be the day folks accept him for who he is and stop pontificating about whom he could become with just one more experience!
(https://x.com/SymoneDSanders/status/1885053685312463085?t=LOxeTBxfli8UZykCArBLvg&s=03)
Ricky Davila (@TheRickyDavila) posted at 8:43 PM on Thu, Jan 30, 2025:
The orange convicted felon is a truly inhumane horrible evil idiotic piece of shit. Every time he says “DEI” it’s really him using the N-word at any given time even if it makes no fucking sense. The racist scumbag will use any situation to demean and endanger people of color.
(https://x.com/TheRickyDavila/status/1885157034242564353?t=dQI72mAPMEzImmwXNPhiqA&s=03)
Ricky Davila (@TheRickyDavila) posted at 10:11 AM on Thu, Jan 30, 2025:
The sad reality is that we will never know the truth about what really happened regarding the mid-air collision because the MAGA regime will refuse to take any blame whilst trying to cover it up and blame others. We no longer have adults in govt, just idiots, crooks and traitors.
(https://x.com/TheRickyDavila/status/1884997907969098058?t=v8H7wkfTDarufHiObx5h_A&s=03)
WHY LEAVE?
MAKE THEM FIRE YOU.
Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) posted at 8:10 AM on Fri, Jan 31, 2025:
The highest-ranking career official at the Treasury Department is departing after a clash with allies of Elon Musk over access to sensitive payment systems. Typically, just a small number of career officials control Treasury’s payment systems.
David A. Lebryk has served in nonpolitical roles at Treasury for several decades. washingtonpost.com/business/2025/…
(https://x.com/kylegriffin1/status/1885329909012218273?t=V8m_u1R1zyV7OMGG4h9pJA&s=03)
The entire thing is disturbing..but KEEPING HER PAPERWORK ?
PHUCK OUTTA HERE!
Kelsey Piper
@KelseyTuoc
I think that Republicans are going to find that while “no trans people in women’s sports” was a politically winning issue, “the passport office will seize trans Americans’ documents and refuse to issue them a passport under any gender” is not.
https://x.com/KelseyTuoc/status/1885165915920359659
Jersey Noah (@JerseyNoahx) posted at 1:18 PM on Thu, Jan 30, 2025:
Yesterday, a Los Angeles passport agency refused to issue a passport renewal to a trans woman. The agency kept all of her documents, did not issue her a passport, and threatened to arrest her
(https://x.com/JerseyNoahx/status/1885045011332596050?t=256ceEUTKevb1As6XYajeg&s=03)
Jersey Noah (@JerseyNoahx) posted at 1:19 PM on Thu, Jan 30, 2025:
The agency told her that they could only issue her a “male” passport. All of her documents (federal & state) are updated to “female.” After she agreed to accept the “male” passport, the agency rescinded this option & told her that they will not be issuing her ANY passport
(https://x.com/JerseyNoahx/status/1885045288915919147?t=H_PFckuBqeCseFxYBvSaug&s=03)
Jersey Noah (@JerseyNoahx) posted at 1:20 PM on Thu, Jan 30, 2025:
She left under threat of arrest. She is now without a passport and all of the documentation she had with her to renew her passport. She is in need of legal experts. Drop your information below if you are a lawyer with expertise in this area.
(https://x.com/JerseyNoahx/status/1885045405819560169?s=03)
Magdi Jacobs (@magi_jay) posted at 10:33 AM on Fri, Jan 31, 2025:
I don’t have a horse in the DNC race, but Hogg simply doesn’t have the experience required to navigate multiple races, as well as multiple demographics, including Black people, Latinos, suburban women, rural voters, etc.
Magdi Jacobs (@magi_jay) posted at 10:36 AM on Fri, Jan 31, 2025:
Questions I would have for a DNC chair:
-Have you been to a Black church?
-How do we make even more gains w/ white college ed men & women?
-Do you know what Souls to the Polls is?
-How do we offset rural gains w/ better turnout in Philly?
Magdi Jacobs (@magi_jay) posted at 10:38 AM on Fri, Jan 31, 2025:
I mentioned multiple demos above, but seriously, cross-cultural fluency with Black communities is an absolute must. I’m not being critical of David Hogg, but I see him as a cross-culturally fluent person. Maybe he will be in a few years, w/ more experience.
(https://x.com/magi_jay/status/1885367023456174514?t=m31dDr19shwSQdI8jlGXMQ&s=03)
David Pepper (@DavidPepper) posted at 10:24 AM on Fri, Jan 31, 2025:
🚨 🚨
BREAKING: A Second Outrageous Email
A 🧵
To illustrate just how desperate the Trump Administration is to sweet talk federal public servants into resigning via a vague “delayed resignation,” a second “Fork in the Road” email went out last night.
1/ https://t.co/Rn1xYjdjPo
(https://x.com/DavidPepper/status/1885363514375573778?t=z68To1tWQPUeTDPxYKAmLQ&s=03)
David Pepper (@DavidPepper) posted at 10:24 AM on Fri, Jan 31, 2025:
One Public Servant’s Response
I asked a federal worker I know, who has received these emails, what the response inside has been among his/her colleagues.
“There are lots of questions.”
12/
(https://x.com/DavidPepper/status/1885363566514966805?t=4XsCMpZ80xxlUfOEP4SUrQ&s=03)
David Pepper (@DavidPepper) posted at 10:24 AM on Fri, Jan 31, 2025:
People feel: “Demoralized. Angry….A lot of people are feeling insulted by the implications of the email. Insinuating that we’re not productive. That we don’t care about the mission.”
13/
(https://x.com/DavidPepper/status/1885363569673277639?t=9cXrW3-c8BTMKEpazRff4Q&s=03)
The Intellectualist (@highbrow_nobrow) posted at 8:08 AM on Wed, Jan 29, 2025:
Oklahoma Superintendent Says He Supports ICE Enforcement in His State’s Schools
In this video, we review Oklahoma Superintendent Ryan Walters’ statement supporting ICE enforcement in his state’s schools and the implications of his stance on immigration.
https://t.co/43p3hpLlfX
(https://x.com/highbrow_nobrow/status/1884604653611925532?t=XRaSlfO1vGXXLF0XaZqVMQ&s=03)
Alex Cole (@acnewsitics) posted at 11:52 PM on Wed, Jan 29, 2025:
If Joe Biden fired 100 FAA employees and a plane crash happened just a few hours later, Fox News would bring Lou Dobbs back from the dead with wall-to-wall coverage blaming it on Biden.
(https://x.com/acnewsitics/status/1884842057815978444?t=dVXEaZ2qKqeHs2HJ_XxZOA&s=03)
Good Morning, Everyone😊😊😊