Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson was forced to defend himself Thursday after a report surfaced that he did research using tissues from aborted fetuses in the early 1990s.
Carson is considered staunchly pro-life, has been outspoken in his support of the federal defunding of Planned Parenthood, and is considered to derive much of his support from social conservatives. But the new reports come at a bad time for Carson, who was seen as someone who got a moderate boost following his performance in the first GOP debate last week.
Reports said Carson published research using aborted fetal tissue in 1992 in the journal Hum Pathol. The fetuses used were described as being in their ninth and seventeen week of development. The research was conducted in hopes of enhancing physicians’ ability to predict which patients were more likely to develop certain medical conditions with aging.
Dr. Carson insisted research using fetal tissue is defensible and not morally equatable with abortion. “That’s a very different thing from killing babies …To try to equate those things is absolutely ridiculous,” he said.
Carson’s boost among voters has been reflected in some polls, and one showed him trailing only Donald Trump in Iowa, and besting Scott Walker, who has held the lead in Iowa for most of the year.
