While laws to ban abortion may help save unborn lives, it’s best to change the “me-first mentality” that drives the procedure, Dr. Ben Carson told The Epoch Times.
“That ’me-centric' mentality, obviously, is not conducive to compassion for that entity that cannot protect itself,” Dr. Carson said.
As a doctor, Dr. Carson said he has seen first-trimester abortions and brands them “murder.”
Dr. Carson said he always believed abortion was bad, but that he shouldn’t infringe on some one else’s choice.
He only began to believe in ending abortion rather than being pro-choice after thinking about slavery.
The abolitionists who fought to end slavery didn’t respect the “choice” to own slaves because it threatened human beings, Dr. Carson said.
“The slave owners felt they owned people, and that they could do anything, they wanted to: Kill them, beat them, rape them, whatever they want,” he said. “So maybe we do have an obligation to stand up for the rights of others.”
Dr. Carson’s nonprofit, the American Cornerstone Institute (ACI), says its mission is to “stand firmly in support of America’s founding principles and pursue commonsense solutions that challenge conventional groupthink.”
The petition stated it can make “lasting change” on abortion. But instead of targeting government leaders to make change, it asked individuals to sign on to goals.
This focus matches Dr. Carson’s commitment to the principles of America’s founders. Mandating morality is a slippery slope, he said.
“Who gets to decide what, what has to be mandated? That’s sort of antithetical to the purpose and the founding of our nation.
Dr. Carson’s petition asks signers to “proudly stand for life,” “vote for individuals who value life,” “pray,” and “use [their] voice.”
Each of these goals calls people to personally participate in the pro-life cause.
“We need to shift the culture that has put the sanctity of human life on the back burner,” the petition stated.
As one of America’s top pediatric surgeons, Dr. Carson spent 29 years practicing brain surgery on children. He pioneered new techniques to perform operations on babies in the womb, treat brain tumors, and separate conjoined twins.
This experience taught him the value of human life and how American culture treats it with contempt, he said.
“Our society has been infected by an anti-life ideology, treating its most vulnerable members as disposable objects. Abortion that was once thought of as a last resort in a medical emergency, has become the new normal,” he said.
Medicine makes it clear that life begins at conception, Dr. Carson said.
“It also tells us when an unborn baby develops a heartbeat, brainwaves, and nervous system,” he said. “Yet, despite all of this, the unborn are not treated as though they are alive or even human.”
Since the Supreme Court first legalized abortion, Americans have undergone more than 63 million abortions.
In the battle to shape public opinion on abortion, pro-lifers have much to learn from the political Left, Dr. Carson said. Over the past 60 years, progressives have succeeded in changing American culture to an incredible degree, he said.
The effort to change American opinion on abortion relies on the media, he said.
“Look at how effective the Left has been in terms of getting people to know and understand the things that they advocate,” said Dr. Carson. “It’s a matter of being able to get the information out in a free and unbiased manner.
“We don’t have that right now, because the Left largely has control of the mainstream media.”
However, changing minds on abortion will take a long time, Dr. Carson said.
“The Left has a much deeper understanding of how to influence people, and they take the long range approach,” he said.
The Epoch Times contacted Planned Parenthood but received no comment by publication time.
“Everyone’s experience is different, and there’s no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way to feel. Most people are relieved and don’t regret their decision. Others may feel sadness, guilt, or regret after an abortion.
“Lots of people have all these feelings at different times. These feelings aren’t unique to having an abortion. People feel many different emotions after giving birth, too.”
Having long-term mental health problems after abortion is “rare,” the website states.
In 2013, Dr. Carson left the surgical field. He also left behind his status as a political independent in 2014, joining the Republican race for president in 2016 before losing to president-to-be Donald Trump.
In Mr. Trump’s administration, Dr. Carson was the secretary of housing and urban development.
After leaving that office in 2021, Dr. Carson founded the ACI.
The group announced it intended to “heal the divisiveness that plagues our nation’s politics” by working with research, outreach, and collaboration with government entities.
To further this goal, the ACI pursues various forms of activism, including children’s education programs, policy briefs, educational videos, letters to Congress, stories from immigrants to America, educational materials, and voter registration.
Roe v. Wade Ended, Abortion Didn’t
America’s abortion industry will likely perform over 955,000 abortions this year, according to a report by the pro-abortion Society of Family Planning (SFP).This number marks a decrease of about 25,640 abortions from before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, according to the SFP.
The poor are least likely to travel for abortions, SFP said.
Although state laws against abortion have somewhat decreased overall abortion numbers, they’re unlikely to majorly reduce abortions. Twelve states have almost total bans on abortion, and other states have tightened restrictions recently. But the abortion rate has gone down by only about 2 percent.
The political battle over slavery and the political battle over abortion bear several similarities, Dr. Carson said. Just like with slavery, America lags behind the rest of the world on a pressing moral issue while states disagree, he said.
“In most European countries, they have broad, sweeping rules that say no abortions after 15 weeks,” Dr. Carson said. “If the people in the state want it, you can kill that baby right up until the moment that is born. Nobody else, nobody else in the world thinks that. We’re the barbarians.”
Currently, unborn life protection measures have relatively low impact because women can leave a state that protects unborn children and get abortions in a state where it’s legal. Without federal laws to protect unborn children the overturn of Roe v. Wade will have minimal impact on America’s abortion rates.
Currently, abortion law in America is incredibly complex. Some states ban abortion. Other states protect it as a right.
In the conversation over abortion, Americans must learn to engage in dialogue, Dr. Carson said.
“We, the American people, must come to recognize that we’re not each other’s enemies,” he said. “And when it comes to these issues, including abortion, we must be able to sit down and talk to each other about our various views. Because you live in a diverse society, ‘My way or the highway’ does not work.”
