The Bush family is not exactly known for its silver-tongued rhetoric. George W. Bush was famously tongue-tied, and Dana Carvey became a Saturday Night Live star by poking fun at Bush-41’s peculiar speaking style. Jeb Bush may be opening the next chapter in that saga. In something of an understatement, Jeb recently clarified that dismembering unborn babies and selling their organs is “not…compassionate.” During a campaign event in South Carolina on Wednesday, Jeb said Congress had “every right” to investigate Planned Parenthood over allegations that it performs criminal actions nationwide in the method of abortion used to procure, then sell, fetal organs. “It just troubles me that you would sell body parts. It just makes no sense to me,” Jeb said. “That is not a compassionate situation.” No, no indeed. Thanks for clearing that up, Jeb. He went on to say, “I found out yesterday that Planned Parenthood receives 500 million bucks” a year from taxpayers, and ending that half-billion dollar annual subsidy to the abortion industry “would be a good place to start” cutting wasteful government spending. While it’s good to see him weigh in on the issue — something even George Pataki, the pro-choice Republican in the race, agrees with — it’s troubling that Jeb just “found out” on Tuesday that the federal government subsidizes Planned Parenthood. Defunding the abortion industry has been a top priority for social conservatives for decades. It would be disturbing to find out that Jeb just learned about its existence this week.
