Crowd Boos After Dr. Paul Nearly Passed Over on Abortion Question, Later Spars With 'Overly Sensitive' Santorum on Issue

When it came to the controversial topic of abortion, there were two notable moments during CNN's Southern Republican presidential debate Thursday night. At one point, as moderator John King was making his rounds with each of the candidates, he inexplicably skipped over Ron Paul. The choice to skip the Texas congressman was odd given that Dr. Paul is a retired obstetrician and gynecologist. Paul, of course, noted this after a hearty round of boos from the audience.

“John, once again, it’s a medical subject. I’m a doctor!” Paul beamed. “No, I do want to make a couple comments because I can remember the very early years studying obstetrics and I was told — it was before the age of abortion. I was told taking care of a woman that’s pregnant, you have two patients. I think that solves a lot of the problem about, you know, when life begins and all.”

Paul went on to explain his experience with the 1960's culture and that "the morality of the country changed" and "the law followed up."

"When morality changed, it reflects on the laws. The law’s very important. We should have these laws. Law will not correct the basic problem. That’s the morality of the people."

Watch below, courtesy of Mediaite:

The second notable moment during the debate when it came to the abortion issue was the spar that ultimately ensued between Paul and Rick Santorum. Santorum accused Paul's pro-life stance as not being strong enough, while Paul noted that Santorum is "overly sensitive" when it comes to the issue. Out of an entire evening that saw its share of heated moments and fierce debate, this was among the more piquant exchanges. Video provided by CNN: