By wplog

Published Monday, Dec. 3, 2007 | 3:24 p.m.

Updated Thursday, Oct. 30, 2008 | 2:14 p.m.

Although he was personally opposed to abortion, he ran in both his 1994 U.S. Senate and 2002 Gubernatorial campaigns as a pro-choice candidate. But Romney has said that during his term as Massachusetts governor he began studying whether human stem cells should be used in research. Romney said he didn't like the idea of creating new life for experimentation in embryo farming nor did he like that the embryos were destroyed after 14 days. Both of these concepts led him to change his stance to pro-life.

"I've changed my view on that," he has said on the 2008 campaign trail. "Abortion is taking human life. There's no question that human life begins when all the DNA is there that is necessary for cells to divide and become a human being. Is it alive? Yes. Is it human? Yes."

Some critics would argue that Romney is flip-flopping on the issue of abortion to appease the conservatives he is trying to attract in order to gain the Republican nomination. During a CNN interview on June 18, 2007, he told John Roberts that all of the decisions he made as governor of Massachusetts came down on the side of life.

YouTube Video: Romney discusses his change from pro-choice to pro-life on CNN with John Roberts.YouTube Video: At a National Review Institute Conservative Summit, Romney discusses the research that inspired him to change from pro-choice to pro-life.

— Las Vegas Sun intern Jenna Kohler and new media managing editor Dave Toplikar compiled this report.