This one might well be a factual question, but my research on this has found conflicting verdicts, and it’ll probably wind up as a debate anyway, so I’ll put it here.
I heard that First Lady Laura Bush is actually pro-choice. I’ve been researching this, but I haven’t found much. I found a CNN article from January 19, 2001 that hinted that she is, but I’m not certain. I’ve found a number of references to her being pro-choice, but I haven’t found much that’s solid. This rant by a conservative nut in Battle Creek, Michigan slams Mrs. Bush as being pro-choice, but I can’t find anything that says she definitively is. Does anyone know anything about this?
I know that Barbara Bush is also pro-choice, and George H.W. Bush was pretty moderate on the abortion issue, particularly if you compare him to his son. I’ve always had a feeling that Barbara Bush is the reason that the first President Bush didn’t give in to the anti-abortion rights wing of his party, but I have nothing to back that up. It’s just a feeling. How relevant to a presidency the views of a first lady are would make for another thread entirely, but it’ll probably figure big into this one, too. Considering all the press first ladies get anymore, and how both Laura Bush and Teresa Kerry have been hitting the trail for their husbands (though Laura more than Teresa,) I’d say they’re more relevant than they used to be.