Former President Jimmy Carter believes Jesus would not approve of abortions aside for a few exceptions.
“I have a hard time believing that Jesus, for instance, would approve abortions unless it was because of rape or incest or saving the mother’s life or some danger,” the Democrat told HuffPost Live.
Carter, who served as president from 1977-1981, said he has struggled over the years to personally accept the Supreme Court’s 1973 landmark decision in Roe v. Wade that recognized a woman’s constitutional right to have an abortion.
“I have had a problem with abortion. This has been a longtime problem of mine,” he explained. “My oath of office was to obey the Constitution and the laws of this country as interpreted by the Supreme Court, so I went along with that. But that’s been the only caveat.”
He does think Jesus would approve of same-sex marriage.
“I believe he would,” Carter said, adding that he believes Jesus would encourage marriage between same-sex or heterosexual couples as long as it was “honest and sincere.”
“Everybody should have a right to get married, regardless of their sex. The only thing I would draw a line on, I wouldn’t be in favor of the government being able to force a local church, congregation to perform gay marriages if they didn’t want to,” he continued.
