(AP) -- Update: Tuesday at 12:20 p.m.:

U.S. Senator Roy Blunt, along with a host of former Missouri U.S. Senators are calling for Todd Akin to step aside in the U.S. Senate race.

Senator Blunt called U.S. Representative Todd Akin’s recent statements “totally unaccepteable.”

Senator Blunt, John Ashcroft, Kit Bond, John Danforth and Jim Talent have issued this joint statement:

“We do not believe it serves the national interest for Congressman Todd Akin to stay in this race. The issues at stake are too big, and this election is simply too important. The right decision is to step aside.”

Original Story:

On a day when his political future might be decided, Rep. Todd Akin of Missouri is airing a new television advertisement apologizing again for his comments that women can somehow prevent pregnancy after "legitimate rapes."

Akin faces a 5 p.m. deadline Tuesday to decide whether he will withdraw from his Senate race against Democratic incumbent Claire McCaskill. He has been pressured by some Republican leaders to leave the race since making his comments during a TV interview Sunday.

In an advertisement airing Tuesday, Akin says he used the "wrong words in the wrong way" and asked for voters' forgiveness. He calls rape an evil act and acknowledges it can lead to pregnancy.

Akin does not comment in the ad on whether he plans to stay in the race.

Click here to see the ad entitled "Forgiveness." 

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