As Ryan Campaigns, the Abortion Issue Intrudes

By TRIP GABRIEL

CARNEGIE, Pa. - While the furor continued over Representative Todd Akin's remarks about rape, Paul D. Ryan did not mention his House colleague as he campaigned for the Republican presidential ticket here on Tuesday.

Mr. Ryan delivered a spirited version of his stump speech attacking President Obama on Medicare and jobs, after whipping a Pittsburgh Steelers Terrible Towel that he was handed after taking the stage.

The enthusiastic crowd chanted: “Here we go, Ryan. Here we go!''

As a chorus of Republican leaders pressed Mr. Akin to quit the Senate race in Missouri, Mr. Ryan was reported to have called Mr. Akin on Monday. But Mr. Ryan's traveling spokesman would not confirm or deny a call.

In declaring that a woman's body can prevent her from becoming pregnant in cases of “legitimate rape,” Mr. Akin was trying to explain his opposition to abortion laws that include an excep tion for rape victims. He later said that he misspoke and apologized, but stated that he was staying in the race.

In the past, Mr. Ryan also opposed a rape exception to abortion laws, although when the Romney-Ryan campaign condemned Mr. Akin in a statement on Sunday, it made clear that Mr. Ryan supported Mitt Romney's long-held view that abortions laws include a rape exception.

Scrutiny over Mr. Ryan's past abortion positions has been rising since the weekend, as the Obama campaign tries to tie Mr. Ryan with Mr. Akin in an effort to stretch its advantage among female voters over the Republican ticket.

The Obama campaign even branded a plank in the Republican platform prohibiting abortion in the case of rape, which has been a feature of previous party platforms, the “Akin amendment.''

A spokesman for Mr. Ryan, Michael Steel, said, “It's not at all uncommon to have slight differences between the platform and the nominee.”

Mr. Ryan's campaign said that while he personally opposes exceptions for rape or incest, he voted repeatedly for the Hyde Amendment, which bars federal funding for abortions but includes exceptions for rape, incest or to save the life of a pregnant woman.

At the same time, Mr. Ryan was a co-sponsor last year, along with Mr. Akin and other House Republicans, of a bill that seemed intended to narrow the rape exception, inserting the language “forcible rape.” It also granted “personhood” to human embryos, a view that supporters of the personhood movement say will criminalize all abortions and perhaps some forms of birth control.

Apart from Mr. Akin's fate â€" on Tuesday, he said he would not withdraw â€" the issue of exceptions in anti-abortion laws now seems likely to be an undercurrent of the presidential race

At Mr. Ryan's rally here, near Pittsburgh, the crowd seemed well aware of the swirling controversy. Many said they opposed abortion but wrestled over support for an exception in cases of rape.

“This is so hard,” said Dianne Lynch, 56, a stay-at-home mother who called herself staunchly conservative. “I try to put my children in that position.”

But she said she would support abortion laws with no exceptions for rape or incest. “I say a nation that kills their own is a nation without hope,” she said.

Lauren Dull, a hospital gift shop worker, also opposed abortion, but she said she would support an exception for rape. “I would prefer the girl who does get pregnant to give it up for adoption,” she said, “but I've never been in that position. That might be very hard to do.”

She did not think that Mr. Ryan's previously stated position in favor of a rape exception would detract from the appeal of the Republican ticket.

“Because this guy is going to be the president,” she said, pointing to a picture of Mr. Romney she had glued to a homemade sign reading, “Time for a Little R & R.”

A supporter of Mr. Obama at the Ryan rally, Anna Jane Shally, said the president's support of abortion rights was important in winning her vote. She said Mr. Ryan's past opposition to exceptions for rape or incest would drive even more women away from the Republican ticket. “I think he has not mouthed the words of Representative Akin,” she said, referring to Mr. Ryan, “but I think philosophically they're on the same page.”

Mallory Silbert, 19, a student at Allegheny College, said she opposed abortion. The issue of a rape exception “is hard when you're in college because things happen in college,” she said.

She thought all the attention to Mr. Akin's inflammatory words might lead to more awareness of rape. “If we get more people to realize that rape is a big issue, we can educate more people and not have pro-life or pro-choice,” she said. “It's about making that issue stop in general, and not picking a side.”