Manchester, NH (LifeNews.com) -- Republican presidential candidate Sam Brownback is strongly pro-life and, as a result, opposes the killing of unborn children from abortion. But he told the audience at a New Hampshire campaign stop that he strongly supports protecting children after birth as well.

Pro-life advocates are frequently criticized by those who back abortion as caring for children only before birth but not afterwards.

Seeking to respond to that criticism in a state that's not known for its pro-life views, Brownback told a luncheon audience that he's "pro-life, whole life" and that candidates who say they are pro-life can't abandon babies after birth.

"I believe the child in the womb should be protected," Brownback said, according to an AP report.

"America is best when she's good," he added. "It's that fundamental goodness that makes America great, and that goodness to me is based upon our belief that every single person is unique, beautiful and sacred."

"We're going to overturn Roe v. Wade," he said to cheers from the audience. "The right to abortion is not in the Constitution."

But he also added that "we should also protect the person that's in poverty, and the child that's in Darfur, and working with prisoners so they don't have so much recidivism and always back in the system."

Kelly Roy, a member of Operation Outcry, a group that helps give a voice to women who have had abortions and regret their decision, told the Concord Monitor she's made up her mind and will vote for Brownback in the state's second-in-the-nation primary.

"Sen. Brownback is pro-life across the board," she said.