Jeb Bush: "I'm the Worst!"

[Content Note: War on agency; sexual violence; disablism.]

If you thought that George W. Bush was terrible on abortion rights, get a load of his terrible brother:

As former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) fundraises with his brother George W., the likely 2016 presidential candidate is widely being positioned in the media as the more moderate of the two. But on the issue of abortion, Jeb actually stands to the right of his elder sibling.

...[Jeb] declared in 2003 that he was "probably the most pro-life governor in modern times." As governor, Bush signed a law to create "Choose Life" license plates in Florida, the proceeds from which flow to anti-abortion advocacy organizations. He also aggressively intervened in two high-profile cases to prevent a [survivor of rape with developmental disabilities] and a 13-year-old girl from being able to have abortions.

In the former case, involving a 22-year-old rape victim who was both pregnant and developmentally disabled, Bush asked a court to appoint a guardian to represent the woman's fetus. The woman had been raped while living in state-supervised facilities, but did not have the mental capacity to identify her attacker.

"Given the facts of this case, it is entirely appropriate that an advocate be appointed to represent the unborn child's best interests in all decisions," the governor said at the time.

In 2005, Bush fought to prevent a pregnant 13-year-old girl, who was a ward of the state, from having an abortion. He was overruled by a judge, and CNN later reported that Bush's "abortion activism shocked some state officials who believed he was reaching beyond the powers of his office."

...The former governor recently embraced a federal ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy—a law that anti-abortion activists hope will be a vehicle through which to challenge Roe.

..."When it comes to access to restricting access to abortion, Jeb Bush is as far to the right as you can go," said Marcy Stech, a spokeswoman for the pro-choice PAC EMILY's List. "Jeb makes W. look like a pillar of reasonable humanity."

Shiver.

One of the worst things of any Republican primary is watching the parade of (usually) white men try to out-extreme each other on the issue of abortion. I suspect that this round is going to be even worse than usual, and I am not looking forward to it.