It is refreshing to hear a candidate take a stance on polarizing issues. I hope Dr. Carson's stance is genuine and not based on the audience he was speaking to to garner support.

Other than nominating Supreme Court justices, Presidents don't have a great deal of impact on the issue of abortion. They have a platform to speak, but I don't think many citizens within the electorate don't already have an opinion on abortion. Candidates who take a stance have to understand that for all the support they receive for siding one way or the other will cost them support from others who disagree.

IMO, as a pediatric neurosurgeon, Dr. Carson would have a unique perspective on the issue of when life begins. I have always wondered how abortion providers, who are medical doctors, rationalize their work with the Hippocratic Oath and the doctrine of primum nil nocere - "first, do no harm."