Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney speaks during a campaign rally in a downpour in Newport News, Va., Oct. 8, 2012.
Romney’s evolving position on abortion left him susceptible to this particular Obama campaign distortion. In an ad, the President charged that the Republican nominee, like his running mate Paul Ryan, was opposed to abortion in all cases. His campaign pointed to a plank in the Republican Party platform that calls for a “Human Life Amendment,” which would give fetuses legal rights at the point of conception. But Romney himself has never embraced an absolute ban on abortions. He has consistently said that he would not seek to prohibit the practice in cases of rape or incest or when the health of the mother is endangered.