On Meet The Press, host Chuck Todd brought up the issue of abortion with his guest, GOP presidential candidate and retired neurosurgeon, Dr. Ben Carson.
Carson, who is pro-life, is known for refusing to be politically correct. Thus, some of the remarks he has made have been considered controversial. For instance, in the interview with Chuck Todd, Carson compared slavery to abortion.
No. Think about this. During slavery– and I know that’s one of those words you’re not supposed to say, but I’m saying it. 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, you know, 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 also said that “ultimately, I would love to see [Roe v. Wade] overturned.”
When Todd asked him about exceptions for rape and incest, Carson came out against those:
Rape and incest, I would not be in favor of killing a baby because the baby came about in that way. And 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.
The media quickly pounced. The same day, several headlines burst forth about Carson comparing slavery and abortion. While many allowed his mention of slavery to speak for itself in the context of abortion, some headlines were characteristically biased. The worst ones even mashed together two separate responses Carson gave.
Noteworthy Sunday examples include:
- The Huffington Post: “Ben Carson Once Again Compares Something to Slavery, This Time Abortion.”
- The Daily Mail: “Iowa frontrunner Ben Carson compares abortion rights to owning slaves.”
- Slate: “Ben Carson Likens Women Seeking Abortions to Owning Slaves.”
- Bustle: “Ben Carson Compares Abortion To Owning Slaves & His Words Are Horribly Problematic.”
- Think Progress: “Carson: Women Who Have Abortions Are Like Slaveowners.”
- Gawker: “‘Reasonable Person’ Ben Carson Compares Women Seeking Abortions to Slave-Owners”
- The Slot, for Jezebel: “Ben Carson Has Now Compared Abortion to Slavery.”
- Rawstory: “Ben Carson opposes abortion for rape victims while comparing them to ‘slave owners.’”
- Daily Kos: “Ben Carson: Rape victims demanding abortions are like slave owners.”
Such remarks have certainly struck a nerve. But, as already mentioned, Carson is willing to speak his mind, and the truth, even when it may not be politically correct.
Carson is not the first pro-lifer to compare slavery and abortion, and he won’t be the last. Other Black pro-lifers made the connection long before Carson, some even making the connection to modern slavery.
It would seem that biased media sites are more interested in sensational reporting than they are in holding themselves to proper journalistic standards.
It should go without saying that the point of Carson’s remarks was not to equate pregnant rape victims with slave owners. Carson did not even actually say that it was abortion-minded women themselves who are like the slave owners. Rather, the comparison could very well apply to the abortionist, the one who uses his medical license for harm rather than good, to kill rather than to save, who often takes advantage of and profits from a vulnerable girl or woman.
Yes, such remarks may be shocking. People may totally disagree with Carson. But if people see the comparison, who are those in the abortion industry to say we’re so wrong?
Sadly, we can expect Carson to take a lot of heat for speaking the truth on this issue.
