Keyes addressed the New Hampshire House of Representatives the day after the final debate between GOP contenders before the state's primary on Tuesday.

"This country wasn't based on self-evident lies and phony manipulation," Keyes said Thursday. "I watch now on the Republican side as they get tripped up in their own words."

During Wednesday's debate, Texas Gov. George W. Bush and Arizona Sen. John McCain said they oppose abortion except in cases of rape, incest and to save a mother's life.

But Keyes told lawmakers that his opponents' hearts aren't reflected in their stands.

He called abortion "the slavery of our time," and said that until Americans recognize that a baby in the womb has a right to live, their own God-given rights are invalid.

"Our rights come not from our choice, but from almighty God," Keyes said. "We must take a stand at home to defend that which cannot be won on the battlefields of war because it can only be won in our hearts and conscience."

Keyes focused almost exclusively on abortion and spoke in the fiery manner that has become his trademark. He also touched on taxes, applauding New Hampshire for its lack of an income tax.

The writers of the Constitution never intended for there to be income taxes, Keyes said, and he would bring the country back to the time when government was financed by sales taxes and other tariffs.

He said the difference between income and sales taxes is that with sales taxes, the government takes the money after someone has decided what to do with it.

"He certainly held the House's attention, even if people didn't agree with him," said Rep. Janet Wall, D-Madbury.

Following the speech, Keyes told reporters South Carolina should decide on its own whether to remove the Confederate flag from its Statehouse. Solving the problem on its own would help the state bridge a political rift within it, he said.

"That flag ... raises fear and anxiety," Keyes said. "But are we going to just act as though everyone who fought under the Confederate flag was evil?"