Congressional candidate and Virginia state delegate Bob Marshall stood by his claim that disabled children are god’s punishment to women for undergoing abortion.

“The number of children who are born subsequent to a first abortion who have handicaps has increased dramatically. Why? Because when you abort the firstborn of any, nature takes its vengeance on the subsequent children… It’s a special punishment, Christians would suggest,” he said in 2010 while speaking at an event aimed at ending state funding for Planned Parenthood. Marshall reiterated the same on April 10 and said he would stand by what he had earlier said while campaigning for the House.

Apart from his ludicrous statement on disabled children, Marshall also said he would stand by his implication that Justice Anthony Kennedy is gay for passing laws in favour of the LGBT community and that abortion should be prohibited in cases of incest, as those instances of sexual intercourse are sometimes voluntary.

“For all I know, Kennedy’s a homosexual… Clearly, some of the people who are making these decisions must be rationalizing their own bad behavior,” he said.

In the past, Marshall has introduced personhood bills repeatedly to safeguard civil and legal rights for unborn children from the time of conception. In 2012, he introduced a procedure that would require pregnant women to undergo ultrasounds before undergoing abortions. Eventually, Governor Bob McDonnell requested an amendment, after the bill became the butt of all jokes for standup comedians. In 2006 too, Marshall co-sponsored an amendment that banned same-sex marriages in Virginia. Luckily, a federal judge ruled it unconstitutional in 2014.

Photo Credits: Gage Skidmore