Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson took a hard stance against abortion on Sunday. On Meet The Press, Carson said he would “love” to see Roe v. Wade overturned, making abortion illegal, even in cases of incest or rape.
"I'm a reasonable person and if people can come up with a reasonable explanation of why they would like to kill a baby, I'll listen," Carson said on NBC's Sunday morning political talk show. The retired neurosurgeon said that he opposed abortions for unwanted pregnancies, adding that he “would love” to see the Supreme Court’s 1973 decision Roe vs. Wade overturned.
When asked about instances of incest or rape, Carson said, "All you have to do is go and look up the many stories of people who have led very useful lives who were the result of rape or incest.”
Carson added that exceptions should only be considered in rare cases involving a mother’s health.
"That's an extraordinarily rare situation," Carson said. "But if in that very rare situation it occurred, I believe there's room to discuss that."
Carson explained his views with a slavery analogy, specifically pointing out that slave owners thought they had the right to do whatever they wanted to a slave. Carson asked, “What if the abolitionist had said, 'You know, I don't believe in slavery. I think it's wrong. But you guys do whatever you want to do.' Where would we be?"
Carson stated previously that he supported a bill that would ban abortions at 20 weeks. During his time as a neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins, Carson was personally opposed to abortion, though Politico reported that he "referred women to doctors who perform abortions [and] was a trustee of a foundation that gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to Planned Parenthood.”
Back in August, Carson defended his stance on abortion in an interview on CBS This Morning. He said, "I spent my entire career as a pediatric neurosurgeon, frequently staying up all night, fighting, struggling to save the life of little babies, even operating on babies inside the womb. So I don't think it should be hard for anyone to understand that I am totally opposed to killing babies."
The soft-spoken candidate is no stranger to controversial remarks: In the past, he said being gay is a choice, for which he later apologized, and said he would not advocate for a Muslim president.
Carson has made a name for himself as a political outsider. He leads Republican frontrunner Donald Trump in two polls released in Iowa last week.