Fetal surgery pioneer Dr. Ben Carson: We must educate people on the ‘miracle of life’

Renowned neurosurgeon and former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Dr. Ben Carson recently sat down with John W. Reid, editor-in-chief of the Standing for Freedom Center, to talk about pre-born life, the future of the pro-life movement, and how future generations can be equipped to make a difference.

During the conversation, Dr. Carson emphasized how important it is for the pro-life movement to educate the general population on “the miracle of life” as it pertains to the intricate design of human beings and their individuality from the moment of conception.

“I mean, you take a female gamete with 23 chromosomes that has no potential to develop into a human being. You take a male gamete with 23 chromosomes with no potential to develop into a human being. And then you merge them together. That’s the point of conception and you have a cell with 46 chromosomes, a complete human mapping system, which does become a complete different human being.”

Dr. Carson, who served as director of neurosurgery, oncology, and pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine before his retirement in 2013, understands better than anyone just how viable preborn children are. That’s because some of them have been his patients; he was the first to perform successful brain surgery on a child still inside the womb and would repeat that success many times over in subsequent fetal surgeries. As such, Dr. Carson’s unique perspective provides scientifically backed proof for the sanctity of life at conception, a fact that is frequently disputed by pro-abortionists. He explained:

“It’s not the mother. It’s not a part of the mother’s body. It’s not the father. It is a new individual who develops at lightning speed from that point. I mean within a matter of six to eight weeks you can already see little arms and legs and fingers and facial features and a heart that’s beating and you know you have something that begins to move and respond to the environment. And the brain is developing at a rate that is phenomenal — 400 million cells in one day. And it’s much more sophisticated, quite frankly, than the snail darter and yet you have people going around trying to save these little creatures. Why would they not be trying to save something that is much more sophisticated, that is going to be a complete functional human being?”

With the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the abortion fight has gotten tougher in many ways, but Carson offers words of encouragement and advice to those young, pro-life activists who want to see an end to abortion in the United States, saying,

“First of all, always tell the truth…because the truth is always the truth and you never have to remember what you said before. But also [have] courage and recognize that we cannot be the Land of the Free if we’re not the Home of the Brave. You have to be willing to stand up courageously for what you believe, but make sure you understand what you believe…. Because you can’t be a good warrior if you go into it half-heartedly. You have to have your whole heart in it.”

Dr. Carson has started a faith-based educational organization called the American Cornerstone Institute to encourage conservative Christians to get involved in helping develop more workable and morally sound solutions to the problems facing the United States.

As a result of his time serving in government, Dr. Carson also saw a need for both children and young adults to be equipped and armed with truth as they enter politics and government.

The organization has already developed the online “Little Patriots” program to help parents teach children, from kindergarten through 5th grade, American history, civics, and American values. During his conversation with Reid, though, Dr. Carson teased a new “practical and pragmatic” executive online learning series that will specifically target young adults who have an interest in government.

For young people going into government, the benefit is simple: It gives them a headstart on settling in and succeeding in their new career. “You don’t have to learn everything from scratch,” Dr. Carson explains.

For more information about this upcoming series and to receive updates and educational content from Dr. Ben Carson, please visit AmericanCornerstone.org.

Ready to dive deeper into the intersection of faith and policy? Head over to our Theology of Politics series page where we’ve published several long-form pieces that will help Christians navigate where their faith should direct them on political issues.