Ann Romney sidesteps questions on same-sex marriage, birth control

Ann Romney on Friday sidestepped questions over birth control and gay marriage, telling an interviewer those were not “what this election is going to be about.”

Mrs. Romney, in an interview with Davenport, Iowa TV station KWQC, was asked if she backed same-sex marriage.

“I’m not going to talk about the specific issues.  I’m going to let my husband speak on issues,” said Romney.  “I’m here to really just talk about my husband and what kind of husband and father he is.”

{mosads}“Those are hot-button issues that distract from what the real voting issue is going to be at this election,” she continued. “It’s going to be about the economy and jobs.”

Romney was then asked by KWQC anchor David Nelson if she believed that “employer-provided health insurance should be required to cover birth control?”

She again deferred. “You’re asking me questions that are not about what this election is going to be about.  This election is going to be about the economy and jobs,” she said.

Romney said that female voters wanted the campaign to remain focused on jobs. “What I’m hearing from women all across the country that they are going to look for the guy that’s going to pull them out of the weeds and get them job security and a brighter future for their children.  That’s the message.”

“So really if you want to try to pull me off of the other messages it’s not going to work because I know because I’ve been out there,” she added.

Ann Romney has taken a more prominent role, as Mitt Romney’s campaign steps up its efforts to narrow the gender gap which sees President Obama favored among female voters.

On the stump, Ann Romney has sought to share her husband’s personal side while arguing that he can help turnaround the economy.

The campaign has focused on its economic message to attract women, but Democrats have hit Romney and his running mate Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) as out-of-touch on women’s health issues, highlighting their criticisms of Planned Parenthood and the Obama administration’s birth-control mandate, as well as Ryan’s support of anti-abortion rights legislation in the House. 

Romney has said he believes marriage is a “relationship between a man and a woman” and has called the administration’s birth-control mandate a violation of religious freedom.