It was clear that the Commonwealth of Virginia was going to take a turn for the worse politically when openly wingnut and ant-gay Bob McDonnell pulled the wool over enough voter eyes to slide into the governor’s chair. It gave fringe wingnuts and Dominionists like lawmaker Bob Marshall free rein to spew scripture-laden insanity as public policy.
Rachel Maddow took on the hate Marshall harbors for women’s reproductive freedom and, by association, disabled children. Even worse, he cited the Bible to justify his remarks in the context of blocking state funding for Planned Parenthood.
MSNBC host Rachel Maddow on Monday assailed a series of recent moves in Virginia under new Gov. Bob McDonnell, citing the rising influence of the Christian right in exacerbating “discrimination” against gays and women.
Maddow was dumbstruck by state legislator Bob Marshall (R-Manassas), who declared Monday that children born with disabilities are God’s “vengeance” for abortion, quoting scripture to make his case.
“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 said, according to the Capital News Service
A speechless Maddow noted that Marshall stood by his remarks when contacted by her producers. “This is the argument he’s using as an elected official to…cut off any state support for Planned Parenthood,” she said.
McDonnell, by the way, apparently tried to rein in the bad PR that he brought upon himself by assuming everyone is a demented “Christian” as himself. So out came the “clarification.”
A story by Capital News Service regarding my remarks at a recent press conference opposing taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood conveyed the impression that I believe disabled children are a punishment for prior abortions. No one who knows me or my record would imagine that I believe or intended to communicate such an offensive notion[.] I regret any misimpression my poorly chosen words may have created[.]
As Right Wing Watch points out, this man has a history of attempts to roll back beyond-offensive statements he’s made, but there’s no misimpression when you go to the videotape…
Marshall is entitled to his offensive views, but he should not run from them.
It’s worth noting that Marshall has a history of saying offensive things – or being “misinterpreted.”
He said this about abortion in the case of rape: “[T]he woman becomes a sin-bearer of the crime, because the right of a child predominates over the embarrassment of the woman.”
And he said this about contraception: “[W]e have no business passing this garbage out and making these co-eds chemical Love Canals for these frat house playboys in Virginia.”
------
Registration is now required! We're still in the process of getting it all squared away, so for the moment don't forget to Login or Register using the links in the upper left menu before starting to write your comment.
Wow, he managed to blame the victim, trivialize the trauma of rape, and minimize the burden of pregnancy/childbirth, all in one sentence. He should get some kind of jackass award.
Is he really suggesting that women should be embarrassed by someone else raping them? And does he think the only reason women have abortions is to avoid embarrassment? What a giant freaking douche!
And of course he’s reinforcing his view that sex is something that only men enjoy, and that it’s something women give to men. He has never considered that a woman might actually want sex for her own enjoyment, and that she might not want a pregnancy or a husband to accompany it. Women’s sexuality just doesn’t exist for this guy.