An Internet storm is brewing for Virginia delegate, and failed Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bob Marshall who recently claimed that disabled children are God's punishment for having an abortion.
Marshall is vehemently pro-life and claims that evidence proves that nature will take "vengeance" upon any female who has an abortion and then, later in life, attempts to have another child. Many in Marshall's camp say that his words were taken out of context, and a large debate has begun about the intention of his words, or if he even said them at all.
It has been reported by timesdispatch.com that Marshall said:
"Disabled children are God's punishment to women who have aborted their first pregnancy."
Marshall has since backed away from that language and now claims:
"I certainly could have used better words to explain the medical research findings which show a high incidence of complications following induced abortions."
At the time of his original remarks WTOP.com reported Marshall said this:
"The number of children who are born subsequent to a first abortion with handicaps has increased dramatically. Why? Because when you abort the first born of any, nature takes its vengeance on the subsequent children."
Marshall went on to elaborate on this and said:
"In the Old Testament, the first born of every being, animal and man, was dedicated to the Lord. There’s a special punishment Christians would suggest."
Now, Marshall's wife has come to his defense on his official website to claim that the statements used against her husband are taken out of context, and were construed by a journalism student.
However, timesdispatch.com says that the story originally did start with a journalism student but that the instructor of the course, Jeff South, an associate VCU professor of journalism, stands by his student's original work.
The semantics of the statements aside, in an election year this is the type of attention no candidate wants.
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