Anti-abortion stance is genuine, Romney says

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Friday told hundreds of anti-abortion activists that his conversion to their cause is genuine as he sought to fend off rivals' criticism that he's inconsistent on the issue.

"I know that it is not time but conviction that unites us," Romney said in remarks on the second day of the National Right to Life's annual convention. "I proudly follow a long line of converts — George Herbert Walker Bush, Henry Hyde and Ronald Reagan, to name a few."

Romney's speech was interrupted several times by applause.

"My experience as governor taught me firsthand that the threat to our culture is real," Romney said. "When responsibility for life or ending life was placed in my hands, I made the right decision."

Two of Romney's rivals — Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Sam Brownback of Kansas — have questioned the former Massachusetts governor's record on abortion. Romney repeatedly vowed not to change state abortion laws and backed abortion rights as recently as 2 1/2 years ago, even though he insists he has always personally opposed the practice.

Now, as a presidential candidate, he not only emphasizes his personal opposition to abortion rights, but he also calls for the repeal of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion nationally.

Brownback, who attended the convention, was asked about abortion opponents who back Romney. He responded: "I'd say, 'Look at me first.' I'm somebody who's been consistent."

The Kansas senator, a long shot for the nomination, said, "I've been fighting this fight for a long time and I believe in it and I think it's the central social, moral issue of our day."

A likely Republican candidate, Fred Thompson, addressed the group in a taped, three-minute message and noted that he received its endorsement when he ran for the Senate in 1994.

"I've been with you ever since, and you've been with me ever since," said the former Tennessee senator.

Just this week, McCain's campaign circulated a video clip showing Romney reiterating his vow to uphold the state's abortion-rights laws in May 2005. The Romney campaign argued that he made the remark at a news conference in which he spoke of "respecting human life" as he vetoed state legislation that would expand embryonic stem cell research.