Two Republican candidates for president have approached the politics of the controversy over Planned Parenthood in different and revealing ways.
Jeb Bush is being hammered by Hillary Clinton and Democrats for suggesting the federal government should spend less money on “women’s health.” The former Florida governor, in a Tuesday discussion with members of the Southern Baptist Convention, made what the New York Times is calling a “casual aside” while discussing the recent videos documenting Planned Parenthood executives discussing the sale of body parts saved from aborted fetuses.
“I’m not sure we need half a billion dollars for women’s health issues,” Bush said. Democrats pounced, including Clinton:
.@JebBush: You are absolutely, unequivocally wrong. https://t.co/a6O17dlEh4
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) August 4, 2015
The gaffe has put Bush on the defensive. He has since said he “misspoke” and chose to clarify his position. “[T]here are countless community health centers, rural clinics, and other women’s health organizations that need to be fully funded,” he said. “They provide critical services to all, but particularly low-income women who don’t have the access they need.”
One of Bush’s GOP primary rivals, Chris Christie, has instead gone on offense with respect to Democratic support for Planned Parenthood. In an interview with THE WEEKLY STANDARD on Monday, Christie was asked about a recent video in which Clinton directly addresses the camera and defends Planned Parenthood against threats from Republicans in Congress to end federal funding for the organization, which is the largest provider of abortions in the country.
“Republicans want to stop Planned Parenthood from killing babies in order to sell their body parts, and maybe Mrs. Clinton should directly answer that,” he said. “Whenever Democrats want to fund Planned Parenthood, they talk about women’s health. Well, in New Jersey, we spend hundreds of millions of dollars on federally qualified health clinics all across the state, we expanded Medicaid more to provided health care to women who need it. None of that has anything to do with Planned Parenthood. Hillary Clinton should look into the camera and defend the killing of babies in particular ways in order to maximize the value of their body parts for sale in the market.”
Later that evening, Christie taped and released a video making many of the same points. “The real issue here that Secretary Clinton won’t address is the conduct of Planned Parenthood,” he says. Watch that video below:
Since Christie became governor of New Jersey in 2010, Planned Parenthood has not received state taxpayer dollars.
