Mitt Romney has reiterated his claim that President Barack Obama is paving a path to gay marriage, media watchdog RightWingWatch.org reported.

The 64-year-old Romney, who came behind Newt Gingrich during Saturday's South Carolina primary, is polling ahead of Gingrich in Florida, which will hold its primary on Tuesday.

Romney criticized Obama on a number of issues critical to Christian conservatives during a conference call on Wednesday with Ralph Reed's Faith and Freedom Coalition.

Obama shows a “disregard for the sanctity of human life [that] is absolutely appalling,” he said when asked about Roe V. Wade.

Romney also picked up where former rivals Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann left off when he accused the president of conducting an “assault on religion.”

“It's an assault on religion unlike anything we have seen,” Romney said referring to Obama's opposition to protections based on religion for health care workers.

On marriage, Romney reiterated his criticism of the president's decision to no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the law that bars federal agencies from recognizing the legal marriages of gay and lesbian couples.

“There's been an assault on marriage. I think he is very aggressively trying to pave the path to same-sex marriage,” Romney said. “I would, unlike this president, defend the Defense of Marriage Act. I would also propose once again an amendment to the constitution to define marriage as a relationship between a man and a woman.” (The audio is embedded in the right panel. Visit our video library for more videos.)