Jonathan Bush, a Republican gubernatorial candidate in Maine, previously operated a network of birthing clinics in San Diego County that frequently served migrant women, according to a Fox News Digital review published days before the June 9 primary.
Bush described the business in a 2014 book he co-authored called Where Does it Hurt? The clinic network was called Athena Women's Health, commonly known at the time as Athena Health. "Here we were, the largest obstetric practice in San Diego County and our business was mostly Medi-Cal, the state welfare program, and migrant workers. We needed their business and even appealed to them with Spanish-language ads on local TV," Bush wrote in the book.
Bush spoke further about the clinic's scale in a 2022 appearance on the Venture Fizz Podcast. "We actually owned a birth center. And at the height, we were doing 3,000 babies a year," he told the audience. "If you multiplied our monthly run rate, maybe 3,300. So really big, prosperous, not prosperous. A lot of low-income families with very low couldn't, not on Medicaid, had to pay cash, migrant laborers, all kinds of people."
Bush opened the clinic network with his business partner Todd Park, who later served as chief technology officer during the Obama administration. The business questions now surfacing center on whether Bush knowingly helped women who may not have been American citizens secure U.S. citizenship for their children through birthright citizenship.
When Fox News Digital asked the Bush campaign about Athena's work with immigrants, the campaign pushed back. The campaign argued that Athenahealth, the healthcare software company, had never offered birthing services and that doing so would have been illegal for a software company. Bush issued a statement drawing a sharp line between the two entities.
"To distract from his flailing campaign, 25-year DC lobbyist Bobby Charles continues to lie about my record of creating hundreds of Maine jobs," Bush said. "Ironically, Lobby Charles – who lied about his military service – lobbied for a liberal pro-illegal immigrant, pro-gun control, pro-birthright citizenship California Democrat Attorney General. Here's the truth without the Lobbyist Lies: athenahealth/Athena Women's Health provided software, billing, and management services to 116,000 American doctors."
Bush continued: "They have never provided any medical services of any kind. And as I've said consistently, I agree with President Trump — illegal immigrants should be deported."
Fox News Digital noted that while Bush's statement about Athenahealth not providing medical services is accurate, the earlier failed venture, Athena Health, that Bush was involved with for less than two years was operating birth services. Bush is a first cousin to former President George W. Bush and has been seeking President Donald Trump's endorsement ahead of the June 9 primary.
