(LifeSiteNews) — Democratic presidential contender Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently affirmed he is “pro-choice,” despite his belief that “every abortion is a tragedy.”

Kennedy had little to nothing with which to assure voters desiring a legal end to abortion when asked during a portion of a New Hampshire “town hall” televised by WMUR-TV why pro-lifers should vote for him.

“I think the worst solution [to abortion] is that the government is involved in decisions that belong to a woman,” Kennedy concluded. 

He framed his advocacy for legal abortion as a way to uphold “medical freedom for bodily autonomy,” asserting that no one in the country has “worked harder” for that value than himself.

“And that applies to vaccines. I don’t think the government should be telling us what medical products we can take, what procedures we ought to endure,” said Kennedy.

“I don’t think the government has any business telling people what they can and cannot do with their body,” he added, without addressing the fact that abortion kills a human being genetically distinct from his or her mother.

In his next breath, however, he acknowledged that the unborn are children, saying, “I’m not going to be in a position where I’m going to be telling a woman to bring a child to term that she doesn’t want.”

“I don’t think it’s a good solution. I think every abortion is a tragedy,” said Kennedy.

“I’ve seen pictures of third term abortions. I’m appalled by them. And I’ll do everything I can to end those in other ways,” he continued, although he did not specify whether he believes the government should ensure abortion at any given stage of pregnancy.

Kennedy’s campaign website touts a desire to “heal the divide” between Left and Right and says he “has clear positions on most of today’s divisive trigger issues like abortion, guns, and immigration, but he knows that both sides have legitimate concerns and legitimate moral positions.” 

“[F]ew relish the thought of dead fetuses, nor do they want to force women to have unwanted babies,” reads his website.

The Kennedy campaign did not respond to an inquiry from LifeSiteNews requesting elaboration on his abortion position, but did give a statement to Newsweek published May 15. 

Kennedy Jr. “believes strongly in the principle of bodily autonomy, whether the issue is abortion or medical mandates,” a spokesperson said. “He will keep government away from women’s childbearing choices. The moral issues are best left to the woman, her family, and her religious community.”

In an otherwise-glowing 2021 review of his “extraordinary” book The Real Anthony Fauci, The American Spectator’s Jack Cashill faulted Kennedy for omitting the preborn from his organization’s stated mission of “hold[ing] bad actors accountable in order to help ensure a healthy future for our children.”

“It is hard to imagine any exposure more ‘toxic’ for a baby than to be vacuumed into oblivion or ripped apart by forceps,” Cashill wrote at the time. “Calling the baby a ‘fetus’ may salve the conscience of the abortion industry’s enablers, but it does not make the killing any more humane. Here is hoping that Bobby, upon seeing the irony, expands the CHD franchise to ‘children from the very moment of conception.’”

While a USA Today/Suffolk University poll claimed that support among Biden voters for Kennedy is scant, an April Rasmussen Reports survey indicates otherwise, showing that 52 percent of Democrats support Kennedy’s candidacy, with 32 percent opposed, and 16 percent unsure.

Kennedy’s weighty support could spell an upset of Biden’s 2024 run, considering the presidential incumbent’s polling weakness. During the 20th century, sitting presidents have commonly lost general elections after being weakened by a primary challenger.

Kennedy recently criticized the Democratic National Committee for setting up a “rigged” primary system. He also argued that the Democratic Party wants to eschew primary debates to ensure President Joe Biden makes it through the primaries without any real challenge.