TODD: But you wouldn’t legislate ― so you wouldn’t be in favor of legislation that said ban abortion after 20 weeks or something like that? JONES: No, I’m not in favor of anything that is going to infringe on a woman’s right and her freedom to choose. That’s just the position that I’ve had for many years. It is a position that I continue to have. But when those people ― I want to make sure people understand that once a baby is born, I’m going to be there for that child. And that’s where I become a right-to-lifer.

Jones later clarified his position in a statement to HuffPost, saying, “Roy Moore and his allies will do anything to distort this race and lie about my position. This is a deeply personal decision. I support the current law on a woman’s freedom to choose, which has been in place for decades, where late term abortions are permitted to protect the life or health of the mother.”

Elizabeth BeShears, a communications consultant in Alabama who has argued that abortion is a big factor in the Dec. 12 special election, said she believes that even if people didn’t point to it, the issue is playing a role in their support for Moore.

“The abortion issue is a check-the-box issue for Republicans,” BeShears said. “It’s something that’s important to them, and it’s like, ‘OK, he’s Republican. Check. He’s pro-life. Check.’ Then they don’t give any more thought to it than that necessarily. So it’s a qualifying attribute and not the deciding attribute.”

Hagner said he thinks the Republicans playing up Moore’s anti-abortion stance are essentially trying to portray him as just an average Republican. Alabama is a Republican state where likely voters oppose legal abortion 62 percent to 28 percent, according to Hagner.

“I think it’s an act of desperation,” he said. “Even before the revelations [about his alleged pursuit of teenagers] came out, choice wasn’t what was determining the race. I have a hard time imagining it’s what’s determining it now. I think what they’re really trying to do is just reframe it as get back to a more generic Republican versus Democratic [race].”

The contest between Moore and Jones is incredibly tight. When Moore beat the establishment candidate in the GOP primary, Democrats suddenly realized they might have a chance at winning. Moore, the former chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, has a national reputation for his religiously conservative positions, including his outspoken opposition to same-sex marriage.

Jones’ chances are considered even stronger, not surprisingly, since the accusations about Moore’s past behavior began pouring forth. Democrats in Alabama are working to expand their electorate ― primarily by getting more African-Americans to vote ― and to persuade some disgruntled Republicans to switch sides and vote for Jones (or, at the very least, stay home on Election Day).