Bachmann Calls Abortion a State Issue, Then Denies Saying It [VIDEO]

At a recent press conference, Michele Bachmann called regulating late-term abortions a state issue. The video of her remarks is online, but she now says she never made them.

I think that's something that most people find anathema, and they would prefer to see it outlawed, Bachmann told The Iowa Republican in response to a question about late-term abortions. That's a state issue, so it's up to the people of Iowa to decide what they want to do. I only know for myself, and as president of the United States, I am 100 percent pro-life from conception to natural death, and I will stand up for the unborn.

But in an interview on Saturday with blogger Shane Vander Hart, Bachmann denied saying anything of the sort.

I don't think I ever said that, that a late-term abortion ban is a state issue, she said. I don't ever recall anything about that. I don't recall a question about that. ... They should contact the campaign before they post something like that, because that is not true.

She added that she has always been absolutely unequivocal about abortion being an issue for the federal government.

It is true that Bachmann has been outspoken about her opposition to abortion and her belief that the government should restrict or outlaw it. Perhaps she misspoke or misunderstood the question at the press conference. But one can't deny making a remark when the video is online.

Bachmann's campaign did not respond to a request for comment made Monday afternoon.

Bachmann's misstep is especially embarrassing given that she criticized fellow Republican candidate Herman Cain for saying the same thing.

What I'm saying is, it ultimately gets down to a choice that that family or that mother has to make, Cain said in a recent interview with Piers Morgan. Not me as president. Not some politician. Not a bureaucrat. It gets down to that family, and whatever they decide, they decide. I shouldn't try to tell them what decision to make for such a sensitive decision.

He added, I can have an opinion on an issue without it being a directive on the nation.

Bachmann ridiculed Cain for his remarks, telling Vander Hart that voters would find out another candidate really isn't pro-life. The more people find out where the candidates truly are standing, the more I'm confident that people will choose me as their nominee.

Now she is trying to backtrack from the very same gaffe, and she is unlikely to gain much sympathy from social conservatives by denying what she said. She can expect the same treatment Cain got, with Bob Vander Plaats, head of the conservative group The Family Leader, calling the state's-rights stance a pro-choice position.

It's not where we're at on the issue and it's not where a lot of caucus-goers are at on the life issue, Vander Plaats said. They believe Roe v. Wade should be overturned.

Watch the video of Bachmann's remarks here: