Rep. Kelly Morrison Joins Fellow Democratic Doctors to Warn Against RFK Jr.’s Senate Nomination

WASHINGTON, DC – Ahead of the Senate’s vote to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services, U.S. Representative Dr. Kelly Morrison (MN-03) joined fellow Democratic doctors in the House of Representatives urging Senators to oppose his nomination. Rep. Morrison was joined by five fellow doctors: Rep. Maxine Dexter, M.D. (OR-03), Rep. Ami Bera, M.D. (CA-06), Rep. Raul Ruiz, M.D. (CA-25), Rep. Kim Schrier, M.D. (WA-08), and Rep. Herb Conaway, M.D. (NJ-03).

Video of Rep. Morrison’s remarks HERE.

Transcript of Rep. Morrison’s remarks copied in full below:

Good afternoon.

I’m Kelly Morrison – Representative for Minnesota’s Third District, and I have had the honor of caring for Minnesotans for more than 20 years as an OB-GYN. 

While my colleagues have highlighted a number of concerning – and frankly disqualifying – issues with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination, from promoting dangerous and unfounded mistrust in vaccines, to posing a threat to mental health care, to having a concerning lack of understanding of Medicaid and  Medicare, which tens of millions of Americans in every state across the country rely on,

I’m here to discuss the direct and dire threat that RFK Jr. poses to women’s health. 

Let’s start with the facts. In his confirmation hearing last week, RFK Jr. vowed to implement "whatever" position President Trump takes on regulating abortion pills – and he has already asked him to “study the safety of mifepristone.”

Let me be very clear: decades of research and clinical experience have demonstrated that mifepristone is safe. Its safety is undisputed by medical experts. For my entire career as an OBGYN – more than 20 years – doctors have been prescribing and patients have been taking mifepristone safely and routinely.

No other safe and legal medication in America is being targeted like this medication is.

We have to be clear-eyed about the threat before us: in his role as HHS Secretary, RFK Jr. – at the direction of President Trump – could increase restrictions on the abortion pill, he could pull it from the U.S. market altogether, and he could end access to this safe and effective option even in states where abortion is legal.

Let’s remember that about 90% of all abortions occur early in pregnancy and more than half of those are medication abortions. Banning mifepristone would, for all practical purposes, create a national abortion ban. It’s really difficult to overstate the threat this poses to women’s health care.

But RFK Jr. doesn’t stop there in his attacks on women. As HHS secretary, he would also make American women and girls less safe in terms of protecting them from cancer.

Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women worldwide, but it is also one of the most preventable. It’s truly one of the miracles of modern medicine: the HPV vaccine prevents almost all cancer caused by HPV – most notably cervical cancer. But once again, in direct opposition to scientific research and medical experts, RFK Jr. has played a leading role in undermining trust in the HPV vaccine by propagating misinformation about it.

He has called it “dangerous and defective,” and falsely claimed that it can actually “increase the risk of cervical cancer.” And he has helped facilitate and profited off of hundreds of lawsuits aimed at companies that manufacture the HPV vaccine. 

How could we ever have a Secretary of Health and Human Services who is attacking one of our most successful efforts to prevent cancer in women and girls?

He says he wants to “Make America Healthy Again”. This will only make America sicker.

We should have a leader of HHS who is guided by science and evidence, and who wants to promote the health and wellbeing of women, children, and families.

As an OBGYN, I implore my colleagues in the Senate to not betray the women of this country, to not threaten their basic health care, and to oppose the nomination of RFK Jr.