Did Barbara Bush support abortion rights? It's complicated

Barbara Bush, who died Tuesday at the age of 92, has been remembered as a dutiful spouse and a proud mother to two conservative presidents. Bush’s actual influence on their policy views has mostly been opaque, with the conspicuous exception of a story shared in 2010 by George W. Bush upon the release of his memoir. W. said his mother once showed him her miscarried fetus “in a jar,” which turned him against abortion for life. It’s an unfortunate anecdote, not least because Barbara Bush’s legacy on reproductive freedom is hardly that of a pro-life proponent. In fact, her outspoken opposition to politicizing abortion was a significant departure from both her son’s ardent anti-abortion politics and those of her husband, George H.W. Bush.

During H.W. Bush’s presidential campaigns, Bush would coyly decline to answer questions about her personal views on abortion. “I’m not going to tell you my opinion,” she’d say to reporters, or, “I’m not running for President, so I am not going to tell you my position on abortion. But I would love to tell you what George’s is.” Many heard this as a tacit admission that she supported abortion rights. If she agreed with her husband’s anti-abortion stance, which was the far more accepted position within their party, why wouldn’t she just say so? Her reticence on the issue was a very quiet appeal to pro-choice Republicans and independents who might have otherwise felt uncomfortable voting for her husband. It was also rather brave: In 1988, when he won the presidential election, Republican support for abortion rights was lower than it had ever been or has ever been since.

eddie wrote:I don’t get the anti-abortion argument either so I can’t throw any light on it.
She was from a different generation though and those fuckers had some odd ideas at times.