Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's position as the director of Michael Bloomberg's Bloomberg Family Foundation — during which time the organization teamed with Planned Parenthood to fund a global reproductive health program in parts of Africa and Central America — could be cause for consternation by social conservatives, though some right-leaning pundits don't think it should be much of an issue in Bush's presidential campaign,
Politico reports.
From March 2010 until stepping down in late 2014, Bush served as the director of the Bloomberg Family Foundation. In 2012, the organization announced a $50 million donation to expand a maternal health program in Tanzania and to fund advocacy grants in Nicaragua, Burkina Faso, Senegal and Uganda with the goal of improved access to "reproductive health services, contraception and family planning information."
"Those four countries were jointly selected by Bloomberg's philanthropy and Planned Parenthood Global, the international division of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America," according to Politico.
Abortion, and specifically Planned Parenthood, has been in the hot seat since the recent publication of secretly recorded videos of Planned Parenthood officials purportedly negotiating the sale of fetal tissue and body parts.
Bush maintains that he is, and always has been, pro-life, something his record strongly reflects. He explained that his decision to join the foundation was based on his and Bloomberg's "shared commitment for meaningful education reform."
Last month, his campaign expounded to
the Daily Caller about the former governor's affiliation with Bloomberg Philanthropies during the time the donations were announced.
"Governor Bush's strong record of fostering a culture of life is clear, and he has called on Congress to investigate and defund Planned Parenthood in light of the recent alarming revelations about its practices," read the statement.
"During his eight years in office, Governor Bush took measures to protect innocent life by passing a partial-birth abortion ban, fighting for a constitutional amendment requiring parental notifications and doing everything possible to promote adoption."
The statement went on to assert that as a board member, "Bush did not vote on or approve individual projects or programs" and pointed out that "Governor Bush and Mayor Bloomberg disagree on several policy areas, including Planned Parenthood" but "they do share a passion for reforming education, which was Governor Bush's focus on the board."
A spokeswoman for the foundation confirmed to Politico that its directors do not vote on individual programs or spending levels.
Politico characterized the reaction generated by the connection as "muted."
"If somebody can embellish and say, 'Jeb Bush oversaw an abortion factory,' in essence, and sort of throw that dog whistle out there, then maybe people would pick up on it … But that's a really tricky thing to do," an unidentified Republican strategist told the website, adding that a voter who would be bothered by the thin link "is probably already supporting other candidates like Texas Sen. Ted Cruz or former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee."
New Hampshire Republican Chris Sununu, who voted in favor of defunding Granite State Planned Parenthood clinics, predicted that most voters will "look at the entire spectrum of a candidate, instead of at just one issue."
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