.S. Sen. Scott Brown blasted his rival today for trying to lump him together with pro-life Republicans amid an abortion controversy that has roiled the GOP.

“Apparently she’s a little confused as to who she is running against,” Brown said of Democrat Elizabeth Warren. “She is running against Scott Brown. I am a pro-choice, independent Republican who has a history of being an independent thinker.”

Brown’s comments came in the wake of a furor sparked by Todd Akin, the GOP Senate candidate in Missouri, who said in an interview that he opposes abortion even in the event of rape, explaining that pregnancy from “legitimate rape” is unlikely because “the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.

“I came out on this issue before (Warren) did,” Brown said today after speaking to a group of veterans at a Natick VFW Post. “I was the first person in the country to ask him to step aside. I am the second most bipartisan senator in the United States Senate. I know she wants to run against Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, but she’s running against Scott Brown. The desperate attempts to try to shift the conversation away from the things that matter – it’s sad. I get it. It’s typical. People deserve better though.”