McCain being coy on abortion?

Abortion rights groups, trying to convince female voters that Republican John McCain is not on their side, are jumping on McCain's comments that he might be open to picking a pro-choice running mate.

On Wednesday, McCain said opposition to abortion is central to the GOP, but also cited former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge, who supports abortion rights, as someone worth considering.

"I think that the pro-life position is one of the important aspects or fundamentals of the Republican Party," McCain told The Weekly Standard. "And also I feel that -- and I'm not trying to equivocate here -- that Americans want us to work together. You know, Tom Ridge is one of the great leaders and he happens to be pro-choice. And I don't think that that would necessarily would rule Tom Ridge out."

Democrats say that represents a reversal from April, when McCain said on MSNBC that opposition to abortion is a "deeply held belief" for him and that it would be "difficult" to pick a vice presidential nominee who didn't share it.

McCain favors overturning Roe v. Wade, the US Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide, then working with states to reduce abortions and eventually end them.

"Sen. McCain appears to have caught Olympic fever with the freestyle flip-flop he’s attempting to pull off with his hints about the possibility of a pro-choice running mate,” Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said in a statement. “Pro-choice Americans know that this flip-flop is not indicative of a policy shift or a reverse course for the anti-choice and anti-birth control McCain. It is clear that McCain is nervous about his diminishing support among Independent women, a key voting bloc that will likely determine the outcome of this election. McCain knows he needs pro-choice Independent and Republican women to win in November, but his extreme position on a woman’s right to choose makes it increasingly difficult to attract these voters.”