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Denver news station KCNC 4 scored an interview with Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Thursday. But there was a catch, according to the reporter: “The one stipulation to the interview was that I not ask him about abortion or Todd Akin. “

Of course, Rep. Todd Akin has been a controversial topic since Sunday, when the Missouri Republican claimed that women have a magical rapist sperm blocking mechanism—or as he put it, “the female body has ways to try and shut that whole thing down”—that prevents pregnancy in the event of a “legitimate rape.” The comment caused a number of influential members of the GOP, including Romney himself, to call on Akin to withdraw from the Senate race. Then Republican National Committee helped keep abortion politics in the news this week when it adopted a party platform that would outlaw all abortions, with no stated exceptions.

Refusing to answer questions from a reporter about this is in line with the Romney campaign’s general strategy of ensuring that the candidate says as little as possible—and certainly nothing unscripted—on controversial topics.