(Steven Senne/AP Photo)

HOPKINTON, N.H. — It was all about the social issues at Mitt Romney’s second town hall of the day this evening, where he was asked so many times about his view on same-sex marriage that he stopped responding to the questions altogether.

The first question came from a young woman in the audience who asked, “Why is it that you feel that marriage between a man and a man or a woman and a woman is lesser than a marriage between a man and a woman?”

“I think the ideal setting to raise a child for a society like ours is where there is a man and a woman in the marriage,” Romney responded. “So I think as a society we are wise to encourage marriage between a man and a woman for the purpose of raising our kids.”

A few questions later another young woman followed up on his answer and asked why being raised by two women like she was — her grandmother and her mother raised her — was any different from being raised by a man and a woman.

“I can say, look there are a lot of folks who get raised by one parent … but in my view a society recognizes that the ideal setting for raising a child is when you have the benefit of two people working together and when one is male and one is female,” Romney said. “That’s why as a society we say we’re going to call marriage what it has been called for 6,000 years or longer — a relationship between one man and one woman.”

But the questions didn’t stop there. Right away another woman asked Romney about civil unions, to which he said he supported domestic partnerships that would provide couples the ability for hospital visitation rights.

Then, turning to another woman in the audience with her hand raised to ask a question, Romney quipped, “Yes, just so long as — no, go ahead, but if it’s the same question I don’t have a new answer.”

And it was.

“I was raised by two dads,” the woman said. “That’s really offensive to me and I just want to know why you feel it is not right for my dads to be able to walk down the aisle.”

“I’ve answered that question,” Romney said, calling on another audience member immediately.

Romney was also asked several times during the 45-minute town hall — one of his shortest ever — about AIDS funding, to which he said he would not commit a specific amount of money without considering the cost in the context of the entire budget. When individuals in the audience kept asking questions about AIDS Romney eventually responded, “I’ve got nothing more for you on that.”

And then there was the 8-year-old boy who asked Romney what his stance on abortion is.

“That’s a question I did not expect from you, but I’m happy I got it,” responded Romney, laughing.

“I am pro-life, I am pro-life and what I’d like to see happen, this is a tender and sensitive issue and good people come out on both sides of this issue and so I respect people who have different views on the issue,” he said.

“What I’d like to see happen is for the Supreme Court to say we’re going to overturn Roe v. Wade and return to the states the authority to decide if they want abortion in their states,” Romney said.