Former first lady Laura Bush has been quite busy lately. She’s promoting her new memoir, appearing on talk shows, and expressing her support for both gay marriage and abortion. That’s right. Laura Bush evidently is in favor of both gay marriage and abortion.

Yes, this actually happened. Let’s go the transcript, shall we? Appearing on Larry King Live, Mrs. Bush was first questioned about her views on gay marriage (a perfectly legitimate question, considering how much her husband and his cronies made same-sex marriage an issue in the 2004 election). Her response:

“I think there are a lot of people who have trouble coming to terms with that because they see marriage as traditionally between a man and a woman, but I also know that when couples are committed to each other and love each other that they ought to have the same sort of rights that everyone has.”

That’s right. Laura Bush, Republican, wife of George “I believe that God wants me to president” Bush, is more progressive on same-sex marriage than our current “progressive” president.

And on abortion? Mrs. Bush says this:

“I think it’s important that it remain legal, because I think its important for people for medical reasons and other reasons.”

Sigh.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I think it’s great that Mrs. Bush holds these views, and that she’s speaking about them. But it also frustrates me greatly, for a couple of reasons.

Look, I get it. George Bush and friends were trying to appeal to a very specific segment of the U.S. population, and to have the first lady speaking out in favor of the gays marrying and abortion would have been contradictory to that goal. Mr. Bush had an agenda, and Mrs. Bush’s views simply didn’t fit. So she chose silence.

But she didn’t have to. She didn’t have to offer up tacit support for the policies of her husband if she didn’t want to. She didn’t have to stand idly by and watch as her husband did an enormous amount of damage to adults and children as he spread misinformation and lies about LGBT individuals in an effort to win an election (and, to a lesser extent, stop same-sex marriage). She didn’t have to stay in the background while her husband was trying to allow health professionals to refuse to help patients who wanted an abortion or emergency contraception. While he set back scientific research by who knows how many years by preventing stem cell research in the name of being “pro-life.” While he, consistently and constantly, set out to find ways to impose more and more barriers on abortion services. She had more access to an incredibly homophobic and anti-choice president than probably anyone else. And she did nothing. Is this the lesson that Mrs. Bush wants to teach young girl and women everywhere? That it’s ok to have your own opinions, but if they differ from your husbands, it’s best to not express them? What kind of message is that?

So, welcome Mrs. Bush. Welcome to our side. I just wish I could have said those words years ago, back when the impact of you stating your positions could have been more than just of symbolic importance.

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