By Breaking Celebrity News Staff

Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney has kept a shocking family abortion secret from his pro-life supporters!

The White House hopeful was left devastated when a beloved relative died after undergoing a botched backstreet abortion The National Enquirer exclusively learned. Ann Keenan, the younger sister of Romney’s brother-in-law, died at age 21 after contracting a fatal infection following an illegal abortion in 1963, and political insiders say the tragedy had a profound effect on the future politician.

Romney was just 16 at the time, and other than referring to Ann as a “dear, close family relative,” he has never identified her publicly or discussed her death in detail.

A GOP source revealed that Romney actually became pro-choice after Ann’s death. “Mitt was absolutely crushed over the tragedy. Because of it, even though he was personally against abortion, he became convinced the procedure should be made safe, and the only way for that to happen was for it to be legal.”

Romney stuck to that pro-choice position when he challenged then-Sen. Ted Kennedy for a Massachusetts Senate seat in 1994, but Romney flip-flopped to a pro-life stance before launching his bid for the presidency, and now aides fear President Barack Obama will zero in on the tragedy as the election campaign heats up.

“There is no doubt that this issue will come up in a debate with Obama, and it could be a game changer,” a political insider told The Enquirer.