Jeb Bush Touts Core Christian Beliefs at Regent Candidate Forum
Presidential candidate Jeb Bush touted his success in defunding Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion provider, as governor of Florida during a forum held at a Christian university on Friday.
"Life is precious. And it is something that should be protected. As governor of the state of Florida I got to do just that. I did it with my arms wide open, I didn't do it as any secret plan," said Bush during the forum at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
"I defunded Planned Parenthood," he added, receiving applause from the largely conservative student audience present.
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Bush said earlier this week that as governor, Florida not only defunded Planned Parenthood, but lawmakers also banned partial-birth abortion and offered "choose life" license plates "to make sure money was going to adoptions."
He added that under his leadership, Florida was the first, if not the only state, to allocate $4 million a year to crisis pregnancy centers.
"Everybody has value; everybody has an asset. Whether you're a developmentally disabled child, a frail elder, or an unborn baby, life has value and should be respected from beginning to end," he said.
Bush was the frist candidate to speak in a series of presidential forums at Regent University which is expected to feature candidates from both political parties.
"Join us throughout the coming months at Regent University as we introduce some of our nation's top presidential candidates through a series of informative discussions and Q & A," noted Regent on its website.
"The forums will provide candidates the opportunity to share their campaign platforms in a balanced, non-debate format."
The conservative law firm the American Center for Law and Justice was the presenting sponsor for the event, with ACLJ's Jay Sekulow serving as moderator.
Speaking about Bush's record, Sekulow asserted, "anybody that objectively reviews the facts would acknowledge" that while governor Bush led with "conservative principles."
"Eight years marked by record tax cuts, reductions in government spending, strong job growth, major government reform," said Sekulow.
Following his speech, Bush answered questions given from those in attendance and via social media through the Twitter hashtag #RegentForums.
Topics covered included the effort to combat the Islamic State terror group in the Middle East, curbing Russian influence in the region, and tax reform.
During the Q&A segment with Robertson, Bush argued that the tax system harms the family unit and advocated for the abolition of the marriage penalty.
Regarding the marriage penalty, Bush said that when he looks at legislation and laws, he asks one question: Will this strengthen families?
"We have a marriage penalty, where being married means you have a higher tax rate. We have welfare reform that makes non-work more relevant than work; then when you start to work you lose the benefits. To restore this we need a culture of work and we need to strengthen family life — that's how you get back to the basics of this great country," he said at a forum in Dallas, Texas, on Sunday.
Earlier this week, Texas became the latest state to defund Planned Parenthood, with the Health and Human Services Commission sending a letter to the abortion provider barring them from reimbursement from Medicaid.
"The gruesome harvesting of baby body parts by Planned Parenthood will not be allowed in Texas and the barbaric practice must be brought to an end," said Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in a statement.
"As such, ending the Medicaid participation of Planned Parenthood affiliates in the state of Texas is another step in providing greater access to safe healthcare for women while protecting our most vulnerable — the unborn."
