Ben Carson Credits Slavery to Changing His Opinion on Abortion

Appearing on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday morning, Dr. Ben Carson, the renowned neurosurgeon vying to be the Republican's 2016 presidential nominee, clarified his previous stances on abortion.

Carson said that he's "changed" since 1992, a time when Carson said he personally was against abortion but did not want to force that beliefs on others.

"I began to think if abolitionists a long time ago began to think that 'I don't believe in slavery, but anybody else can do it if they want to,' where would we be today? So that changed my opinion of a lot of things," he said.

Image source: CNN

"I make no bones about the fact that I used to be a Democrat," Carson said earlier in the interview with CNN's Jim Acosta. "I used to be a pretty left-wing Democrat, in fact. Over the course of time, you know, my views have changed very dramatically."

"I personally was against abortion, but I was not for causing anybody else to do anything," he said. "I was pro-choice, in that region [of Maryland]."

Speaking from Columbia, South Carolina, Carson said he wasn't able to explicitly name his "many" advisors, but contended that they would become "increasingly apparent" as he engages more in foreign policy discussions.

On the rumors that Donald Trump, the Republican front runner, could tap Carson as his running mate, Carson said "it's much too early" for Trump or himself to make that decision. 

Acosta and Carson got into a testy argument over the Republican presidential contender's previous statements on using drones at the U.S.-Mexico border as well. 

"Read my lips," said Carson, who advocated for using drones to take out empty caves, not actual people.

Watch the full interview here.