Ben Carson opposes abortion for rape victims while comparing them to 'slave owners'

Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson said on Sunday that believes Roe v. Wade should be overturned, and that women should not be allowed to have abortions even in the case of rape or incest.

"The mother should not believe that the baby is her enemy and should not be looking to terminate the baby," Carson opined to NBC host Chuck Todd. "We've allowed purveyors of division to think that baby is their enemy and they have a right to kill it. Can you see how perverted that line of thinking is?"

When it came to the rights of women, Carson insisted that they should not have the legal choice to terminate unwanted pregnancies.

"Think about this. During slavery -- and I know that one of those words you're not supposed to say -- but I'm saying it," Carson said. "During slavery, a lot of the slave owners thought they had the right to do whatever they wanted to that slave, anything that they chose to do. And what if the abolitionists had said, 'You know, I don't believe in slavery, I think it's wrong. But you guys do whatever you want to do.' Where would we be?"

"Ultimately, I would love to see [Roe v. Wade] overturned," the candidate insisted.

"I'm a reasonable person," Carson remarked. "And if people can come up with a reasonable explanation of why they would like to kill a baby, [I'll listen]."

The former neurosurgeon said that there was "room to discuss" abortions to save the life of the mother, but he would not make an exception for women who became pregnant through rape or incest.

"Rape or incest, I would not be for killing a baby because the baby came about in that way," he explained. "And all you have to do is go and look up the many stories of people who have led very useful lives who are the result of rape or incest."

Watch the video below from NBC's Meet the Press, broadcast oct. 25, 2015.