Ann Romney explains reversal on abortion

NEW YORK, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's wife, Ann, said Thursday on ABC's "The View" stem cell research changed her husband's mind on abortion.

"He could not have, on his conscience, creating human life for experimentation," Ann Romney said. "That's when he came out saying he was pro life. I think we all have to understand this is an issue that is so tender and there are people on both sides of the issue, with very good conscience, coming with a different opinion."

Mitt Romney said he fully supported abortion rights when he ran for governor of Massachusetts in 2002.

Romney had been scheduled to appear on the talk show with his wife, but his campaign said this week the show "was no longer going to work in the campaign schedule." In remarks made at a May fundraiser, he had called the show "high risk" because the hosts, including Whoopi Goldberg, are "sharp-tongued" and "not conservative." Ann Romney jokingly said her husband actually said "sharp and young."

Romney and President Barack Obama face off in their third and final debate Monday in Boca Raton, Fla.