Steele continued to push Kennedy, asking if he agrees with the Roe v. Wade standard or with abortion being left up to the states, and Kennedy reiterated that the decision should not lie with the states but with the mother.

“Even if it’s full-term,” Kennedy said in response to a follow-up question. “I don’t think it’s ever OK,” he added. When Steele said that would allow late-term abortions, Kennedy said, “I think we have to leave it to the women rather than the state.” ...

“My understanding with Bobby’s position is that, you know, every abortion is a tragedy, is a loss of life,” Shanahan said. “My understanding is that he absolutely believes in limits on abortion, and we’ve talked about this. I do not think, I don’t know where that came from.”

Shanahan went on to say, “That is not my understanding of his position and I think maybe there was a miscommunication there.”