Tim Farron was forced to declare he is pro-choice after an old interview emerged where he said 'abortion is wrong'.
The Liberal Democrat leader, an evangelical Christian, told a Salvation Army magazine in 2007, he thought terminations are 'wrong at any time'.
But when questioned on the interview by the Guardian on Tuesday, Farron insisted: 'I am pro-choice. I believe that abortion should be safe and legal and that the limit should be set by science.'
Speaking about his faith to the War Cry magazine 10 years ago, Farron said: 'Take the issue of abortion. Personally I wish I could argue it away. Abortion is wrong. Society has to climb down from the position that says there is nothing objectionable about abortion before a certain time. If abortion is wrong, it is wrong at any time.'
But he also argued against making abortion illegal immediately.
'Women would still want abortions and they'd have them illegally. So a complete ban on abortion would not achieve what I want,' he told the faith magazine according to the Guardian.
'The reality is that abortion is too widely available. There needs to be tighter restrictions. The challenge to Christians is to come up with realistic alternative strategies.'
Questioned on his believes about abortion by ITV last week Farron said he supported the current law which prohibits abortion after 24 weeks of pregnancy, unless the child has a disability.
'When procedures takes place, it should be safe and it should be legal,' he said.
When pressed on his personal view, he said: 'Again, what one believes in one's personal private faith is just that.'
It is the second row regarding his faith to hit Farron after he was persistently questioned on whether he thought gay sex was a sin. After more than a week of ducking the question, the Lib Dem leader said that he did not think it was.
Asked by Christian Today whether he regretted speaking about his faith, he denied ever making a big deal of his faith and said it was important to open about your beliefs.
'I'm one of those people who thinks it's important you are not dishonest with people but also that you don't go around ramming it down people's throats,' he told Christian Today on Tuesday.
'I think in the end we live in society where we are secular, where we respect people's right to hold a faith or not hold a faith.
'It would be a shame if we lived in a country where you had to hide it.'
The most recent clarification of his views on abortion came after his personal views came to light when the Guardian obtained a copy of the 10-year-old interview from shortly after he was elected MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale in Cumbria.
Lib Dem election spokesman Ed Davey told the BBC's Radio 4 programme Farron had 'changed his mind' on abortion.
'He's made it clear that he is pro-choice and the Liberal Democrats believe that women should have the right to choose,' he said.
