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Jeb Bush to conservatives: I 'stood' with Terri Schiavo

Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush invoked the controversial case of Terri Schiavo at a conservative conference in Washington, DC Friday morning.
Republican U.S. presidential hopeful and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush speaks during the \"Road to Majority\" conference June 19, 2015 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty)
Republican U.S. presidential hopeful and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush speaks during the \"Road to Majority\" conference June 19, 2015 in Washington, DC. 

Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush invoked the controversial case of Terri Schiavo at a conservative conference in Washington, DC Friday morning, reminding the audience of his role in the case when he was governor of Florida.

"I stood on the side of Terri Schiavo," Bush said at the Faith and Freedom conference. Bush rarely brings up the Schiavo case on the campaign trail but his brief mention of it was made to a religious, conservative audience receptive to his role in the case.

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Bush, who intervened in the long, protracted fight over keeping Schiavo on life support, decided that Schiavo's feeding tube should be reinstated, appealing to pro-life supporters.

The issue spent years traveling through the court system and became a political hot button both in Florida and nationally.

He also told the religious conservatives that "traditional marriage ... has to be respected in the long haul irrespective of what the courts say."

This article originally appeared on NBC News.com.