Posted on 09/10/2015 7:31:50 AM PDT by RoosterRedux
Ben Carson’s presidential campaign is surging on a wave of support from socially conservative voters inspired by his passionate talk about faith and his attacks on Planned Parenthood. But while Carson insists he’s a fierce opponent of abortion, he also defends a long series of actions on the issue that are sharply at odds with the beliefs of the very voters fueling his rise.
Carson, a retired pediatric neurosurgeon, has referred women to doctors who perform abortions, was a trustee of a foundation that gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to Planned Parenthood, and his campaign struggles to articulate which legal restrictions he supports on the procedure.
Carson’s history on the issue is shaped by his medical background: Decisions he made decades ago — about referring women carrying fetuses with genetic defects to doctors willing to perform abortions, and conducting research using fetal tissue — came in the context of making complex medical decisions. But those are calls the candidate, who is running as ardently anti-abortion, stands by today, positions he argues are not out of step with being personally pro-life. And they are positions his communications director defended in an interview using language favored by advocates for abortion rights.
I spent twelve months of my life training in neurosurgery in two of the country’s best pediatric hospitals. You see things that are absolutely heartbreaking. You have to make decisions that you wish you did not. Intellectually you wish you could hold back but you have to realize you can’t get between God and his own. If after decades of seeing what a “failed pregnancy” can do to people I am not going to fault Carson for advising abortion on occasion. Accusing him is a cheap shot.
“Ben Carson’s presidential campaign is surging on a wave of support from socially conservative voters inspired by his passionate talk about faith and his attacks on Planned Parenthood.”
This is not why Ben Carson’s presidential campaign is surging. If that were so, Ted Cruz would be through the roof. The truth will unfold but few will be able to sort it out.
An occasional past misjudgment is excusable if it is repented of, certainly. But Carson has had several foibles in his speeches, from softening on the sodomite agenda to 2nd Amendment gun rights. These are enough to alert me to the strong possibility that Carson is speaking the conservative dogma out of expediency, not out of conviction. If you speak from conviction, you are virtually mistake-proof when given “gotcha” questions from a hostile media. When you have to sit and think about what the party position is before answering, you are compromised.
If after decades of seeing what a “failed pregnancy” can do to people I am not going to fault Carson for advising abortion on occasion.
Please define “failed pregnancy”.
Link to article does not work.
Could u add link?
Exactly. Medical doctors have to make hard decisions, even horrible ones. If there is a Siamese twin and they have to be separated, one of them is going to die or they both will die if nothing is done. Not all pregnancies are text book. Some abortions have had to happen and he’s had to perform some of them.
I doubt he ever personally did one. I never did.
It is not just Carson's campaign that has this problem. Among the entire pro-life spectrum there is an acute lack of articulation in terms of legalese. Yes, it is Constitutionally sound to enact laws that protect life at every stage, but how those laws look and how they are enforced is a huge can of worms. What do we do with women who have an abortion? Drown them like witches? I would like to see the law deprive anyone who advocates for and/or practices abortion deprive them of medical credentials and the ability to pull the levers of self-government (voting), because they have proven themselves to be incapable of both.
Then he could make that decision as a surgeon and do it himself rather than farm it out to Planned Parenthood.
Oh, and recycling people to be used in research and industrial products is beyond the pale.
Why not make lampshades of them, for example?
One good example is anencephaly. A fetus with no brain and a hole in the scalp where the cranium should be. Sorry, that ain’t human. Parents of one should be supported in their grief but I can not see that as a human being.
I could mention others but this one illustrates the case well.
Carson’s positions on abortion are immoral and unconstitutional.
It is my understanding that abortion, namely the purposeful taking of an innocent human life, is *never* justifiable or medically necessary. There are difficult situations where innocent human life cannot be adequately treated and sustained, but that is entirely different than reaching in to terminate life.
Neurosurgeons don’t do abortions. Only OB/GYNs.
The man may have changed over time as well. I can grant that of people who are not flip-flopping political opportunists. After all, Winston Churchill had to grow up, too.
Fine, but Planned Parenthood?
Like I said, it was a cheap shot at Carson. Pointing out Carly has a horse face was, too. They both need to get over it. What Trump is throwing at them is nothing compared to what the Rats will throw should they win the nomination. Cheap shots and all I still support Trump as long as most of his fire is directed at targets I want to see destroyed. If the “friendly fire” gets to be too much he may start to whither. Great! Then Cruz will be “the electable one” which would never have happened without Trump. God Bless both of them.
Don’t the majority of babies with anencephaly not even survive birth? And, those that do, most don’t survive a year? So, are you saying the costs associated with these births are not worth it?
Not sure if I’m understanding where you’re coming from saying “that ain’t human”.
They are, IN FACT, human. Parents of these children may beg to differ with your statement.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.