At one time, and we don’t know that he still doesn’t, Jeb Bush stated that he supported the public shaming of women that don’t adhere to his Christian social values. In an interview with CNN yesterday, a Republican strategist tried to come to the defense of Jeb Bush, claiming that he was actually trying to protect women.
In 1995, Jeb published a book titled Profiles in Character. In it, he wrote:
One of the reasons more young women are giving birth out of wedlock and more men are walking away from their paternal obligations is that there is no longer a stigma attached to this behavior, no reason to feel shame. Many of these young women and young men look around and see their friends engaged in the same irresponsible conduct. Their parents and neighbors have become ineffective at attaching some sense of ridicule to this behavior … There was a time when neighbors and communities would frown on out of wedlock births and when public condemnation was enough of a stimulus for one to be careful.
During his time as the Governor of Florida, Bush allowed a bill to pass that required a woman wanting to offer a child for adoption to publish her name, physical description, and sexual history in newspapers. It was an unapologetic ploy to bring shame down upon these women.
Cheri Jacobus, the Republican strategist being interviewed tried to explain Bush’s writings and his actions as Governor this way:
His heart was in the right place. He’s talking about solving the problem of unwed motherhood, children being born into these families. Our latest data shows us that the bottom fifth of earners in this country, 83 percent are comprised of single-parent households, unwed mothers. You have children being born and raised into poverty.
Watch via RawStory:
