Houston, TX (LifeNews.com) -- Former Tennessee senator Fred Thompson took his potential presidential bid to Texas on Thursday to campaign in Houston and Dallas and raise money to lead up to his likely announcement. Meanwhile, Thompson named a former Michigan senator who is pro-life as his campaign chairman.

On Tuesday, Thompson replaced acting campaign manager Tom Collamore with former Michigan senator and Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham.

Abraham is a celebrated pro-life senator who maintained a strong pro-life voting record while in the U.S. Senate and his wife Jane Abraham has been the chairman of the Susan B. Anthony List, a leading pro-life political group.

The selection comes on the heels of news reports that Thompson did some work for a pro-abortion group in 1991 when his law firm was hired by an abortion advocacy organization to lobby the White House on abortion issues.

The former attorney and actor then compiled a 100 percent pro-life voting record while representing Tennessee in the Senate and has repeatedly said he favors overturning Roe v. Wade.

"Those are the kind of things you do ... you make adjustments as you go along. We are on track in that regard," Thompson said during a Houston rally, according to the Chronicle newspaper.

"As you know, I've got some plans. I'm going to make a final decision in the not-too-distant future that I'm going to need your help on," he said about the timetable of his likely entrance into the Republican primary.

"It's going to come down to ideas that are going to help this country," Thompson said. "It's not often that a person has the opportunity to really do that."

His campaigning comes as a new Washington Post-ABC News poll of Republicans finds pro-abortion ex-New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani still leading the field with 37 percent.

Arizona Sen. John McCain and Thompson have 16 and 15 percent apiece and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney came in fourth with 8 percent.

Polls in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, the first three primary states, show a much closer race with Giuliani holding slim leads.