Ron Paul prescribed a lot of birth control during the four decades he worked as an obstetrician before becoming a congressman.
"I was also putting myself out of business, all this birth control," he told Jay Leno on "The Tonight Show" Tuesday. "They had less babies."
Paul has been one of the only high-profile Republicans to condemn Rush Limbaugh's "slut" comments and insincere apology. He has steered clear of the birth control firestorm and told Leno that he wouldn't ban the morning-after pill.
"The morning-after pill is a birth control pill," he said. "If people have reservations about abortion, the abortion is the issue, it isn't the birth control pill. It isn't the instrument. You don't not allow surgical instruments if they're used for certain things."
Paul describes himself as pro-life but is more moderate on abortion than Rick Santorum, who believes that women who conceive through rape should "make the best out of a bad situation."
When pressed last month on whether he would want one of his daughters to carry a baby to term if she was raped, Paul said he would not.
"No. If it's an honest rape, that individual should go immediately to the emergency room. I would give them a shot of estrogen," he said.
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Paul told Leno that women should have a right to choose to have an abortion up to a certain point in the pregnancy.
“Yeah, I think so she should, but does the infant have the right to choose?” he said. “The baby at eight months and weighs eight pounds -- should you, the mother have the right to abort? I have not been able to accept that.”
Paul finished third in the Illinois primary Tuesday night and has not held a campaign event since March 14.
