Why Ben Carson says abortion is like slavery
In an interview on NBC鈥檚 "Meet the Press" Sunday, GOP presidential candidate and retired pediatric neurosurgeon Ben Carson said he opposed abortion under all circumstances, likening the medical procedure to slavery.
After acknowledging that his comparison was controversial, , 鈥淒uring slavery 鈥� and I know that鈥檚 one of those worlds you鈥檙e not supposed to say, but I鈥檓 saying it 鈥� during slavery, a lot of the slave owners thought that they had the right to do whatever they wanted to that slave. Anything that they chose to do. And what if abolitionists had said: 鈥榊ou know, I don鈥檛 believe in slavery. I think it鈥檚 wrong, but you guys do whatever you want to do? Where would we be?鈥�
Carson further explained that Roe v. Wade should be overturned 鈥� with no exceptions. When asked about controversial cases involving rape or incest, he said 鈥淚 would not be in favor of killing a baby because the baby came about in that way,鈥� citing 鈥渢he many stories of people who have led very useful lives who were the result of rape or incest.鈥澛�
And if the pregnancy caused the mother鈥檚 life to be in danger, Carson said 鈥渢here鈥檚 room to discuss鈥� terminating the pregnancy, but such cases are 鈥渁n extraordinarily rare situation.鈥�
By comparing abortion to slavery, Carson suggests that both practices deny humans their fundamental rights. 鈥淲e鈥檝e allowed the purveyors of the vision to make mothers think that that baby is their enemy and that they have a right to kill it. Can you see how perverted that line of thinking is?鈥� in the interview.
But this is not the first time Carson has used a slavery analogy to explain his political beliefs. , Carson gained the support of conservative activists when he said: 鈥淵ou know Obamacare is really, I think, the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery. And it is 鈥� in a way, it is slavery, in a way, because it is making all of us subservient to the government.鈥�
Carson is a practicing , a source of his stance against gay marriage. But Carson seems to take a stronger stance against abortion than what the religion preaches. suggests abortions may be appropriate 鈥渇or the most serious reasons,鈥� such as the mother鈥檚 health, rape, or incest, but the decision to end a life 鈥渕ust not be thoughtlessly destroyed鈥� and the decision is ultimately between the mother and God.
鈥淭herefore, any attempts to coerce women either to remain pregnant or to terminate pregnancy should be rejected as infringements of personal freedom,鈥� the church .
Carson has talked about聽 of his religion on the campaign trail, a subject his top competitor Donald .
But Carson's views on abortion and religion appear to be helping him in Iowa. A recent Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics poll shows Carson as a favorite among Iowa caucus voters with , ahead of the national GOP frontrunner Trump鈥檚 19 percent.
In Iowa, 89 percent of likely caucus goers in this poll are attracted to the retired neurosurgeon鈥檚 statements that he would be guided by his faith in God while president.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 interesting is that the moral outsider (Carson) is whipping the businessman-not-politician-outsider (Trump) and crushing the hope-and-change insiders (Bush and Rubio),鈥� GOP strategist told the Des Moines Register.聽
