Politics/elections

Mitt Romney should have spent more time debating President Obama on abortion, a leading abortion-rights opponent said Wednesday.

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, said Romney took a weak position on abortion that set the tone for Senate candidates. She said Romney was "wobbly" on social issues and called on conservatives to redouble their focus on abortion.

Most of the focus on abortion this year stemmed from Republican candidates' statements about abortion in cases of rape. It started when Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) said women cannot become pregnant from "legitimate rape," and Indiana Senate candidate Richard Murdock followed with comments that pregnancy resulting from rape is "God's will."

Romney should have launched a more aggressive attack to avoid fighting on those terms, Dannenfelser said Wednesday at a press conference organized by several conservative organizations.

Abortion-rights groups trumpeted the defeat of Republicans Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock in their Senate contests as a "resounding victory" Tuesday night.

Both Akin and Mourdock were favored to win their races but lost to Democratic opponents after making contentious statements on rape and abortion.

Akin came under fire after saying that victims of "legitimate rape" rarely become pregnant, a remark for which he apologized later. And Mourdock, in explaining his religious beliefs and opposition to abortion in cases of rape, said that pregnancy caused by rape is "something God intended happen." 

A leading anti-abortion-rights group lamented Mitt Romney's single-minded focus on the economy throughout his unsuccessful campaign for president.

In a statement early Wednesday, the Susan B. Anthony (SBA) List said Romney missed opportunities to hammer President Obama on abortion, his birth-control coverage mandate and his support for Planned Parenthood.

"Voters overwhelmingly disagree with the extreme positions on abortion taken by President Obama and the Democrats," said SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser as Romney conceded the election. 

Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-Tenn.) was projected to win a second term Tuesday night with 57 percent of the vote, according to CNN.

Polls showed DesJarlais in a dead heat with Democratic state Sen. Eric Stewart in mid-October after news broke that DesJarlais, an anti-abortion-rights doctor, had an affair with a patient and then urged her to have an abortion.

Stewart had 43 percent of the vote at 1 a.m., CNN reported.

Voters remain divided on President Obama's signature healthcare law, according to preliminary exit polls released Tuesday night.

The law is a major point of division between Obama and Mitt Romney, with Romney promising immediate repeal if he is elected president. An October tracking poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation found the Affordable Care Act third in GOP voters' minds behind the economy and the deficit. Democrats, meanwhile, named the law as their top priority alongside the economy, Medicare and Medicaid. 

Exit polls found an almost even split between supporters and opponents of the health law Tuesday. The New York Times reported that one-quarter of voters surveyed want the Affordable Care Act repealed while one-quarter would repeal some parts but not others. The other half of voters, meanwhile, would leave the law as is or expand it. 

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Former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) labels President Obama "the most pro-abortion president we've ever had" in a new robocall aimed at four million socially conservative voters.

Thompson recorded the message for the Susan B. Anthony (SBA) List, which opposes abortion rights and is hoping to increase turnout for Mitt Romney on Election Day.

"With only four days to go, we are leaving nothing on the table — voters must know this president’s extreme abortion record before casting their vote," SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser said in a statement. 

President Obama's campaign released a new Web video Friday predicting what the United States might look like after the first 100 days of a Romney administration, forecasting jobs leaving for China, the possible overturn of Roe v. Wade and tax cuts for millionaires at the expense of the middle class.

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