Del. Robert Marshall (R-VA) says "punishment from God" abortion remark misconstrued, apologizes

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Del. Marshall says abortion remark misconstrued, apologizes

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/22/AR2010022204512.html

By Fredrick Kunkle
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 23, 2010



Virginia Del. Robert G. Marshall apologized Monday to people with disabilities for remarks suggesting that women who have abortions risk having later children with birth defects as a punishment from God.

Marshall (R-Prince William) made the comment Thursday at a news conference calling for an end to state funding to Planned Parenthood. Calling the nonprofit group "Planned Barrenhood," Marshall joined the Virginia Christian Alliance, several African American ministers and others who blamed the abortion provider for a host of social ills.

"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," Marshall said.

"In the Old Testament, the firstborn of every being, animal and man, was dedicated to the Lord," he added. "There's a special punishment Christians would suggest -- and with the knowledge that they have in faith, it's been verified by a study from Virginia Commonwealth University -- first abortions, of a first pregnancy, are much more damaging than later abortions."

[xultar]

1. Finally, they are getting butsed for the ignorant ass shit they make up.

Bout time.

[Skidmore]

2. Makes you wonder where some of these

religious groups lived during the past, oh say, 25 centuries.

[jwirr]

3. Sarah must have gotten to him.

[LeftinOH]

4. The only suitable apology should come from the voters in his district -get rid of him

..not that it'll happen, though.

[atreides1]

8. Not going to happen

It's a good bet that most of the voters in his district agree with his comments. So, why would possible religious fanatics vote against a fanatic that represents their views.

For his supporters it's a win-win situation, they don't have to say how they feel, because he's doing it for them.

[onenote]

16. marshall came within 70 votes of being the repub nominee for senate

in 2008. He ran to the right of Jim Gilmore who was himself too far right (and too incompetent) for Old Dominion to take.
Locally, Marshall has garnered around 60 percent of the vote in his past two delegate races.

[sinkingfeeling]

5. So he didn't apologize to women who have had abortions, just people with disabilities?

[atreides1]

6. Has anyone checked this study?

"it's been verified by a study from Virginia Commonwealth University -- first abortions, of a first pregnancy, are much more damaging than later abortions."

The VCU study he referred to was published in 2008 in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health and suggested that there is a higher risk of premature birth and low birth weight in children born to women who have had an abortion."

[OnTheOtherHand]

13. here, I guess

"Previous abortion and the risk of low birth weight and preterm births" (abstract)

Based on the abstract, the study says nothing whatsoever about abortions of a first pregnancy. If one trusts the results, one might possibly say that the first abortion increases the odds of low birth weight and preterm births by a greater proportion than the second abortion. I don't have access to the entire study, and I don't know the related literature, so I'm not entitled to an opinion. I will say that the idea that abortion is a risk factor for future pregnancies is more plausible than the idea that God specially punishes abortions of first pregnancies.

To me, at least. "Your God May Vary." The bozo quoted in the OP has one hell of a god.

[Demoiselle]

15. Here's a synopsis of the study:

Abstract
Objective: To investigate the association between previous abortion and low birth weight (LBW) and preterm birth (PB).

Method: The study examined live, singleton births using data from the United States Collaborative Perinatal Project. Logistic regression was used to control for obstetric and medical history, and lifestyle and demographic factors.

Result: Compared with women with no history of abortion, women who had one, two and three or more previous abortions were 2.8 (95% CI 2.48 to 3.07), 4.6 (95% CI 3.94 to 5.46) and 9.5 (95% CI 7.72 to 11.67) times more likely to have LBW, respectively. The risk for PB was also 1.7 (95% CI 1.52 to 1.83), 2.0 (95% CI 1.73 to 2.37) and 3.0 (95% CI 2.47 to 3.70) times higher for women with a history of one, two and three or more previous abortions, respectively.

Conclusion: Previous abortion is a significant risk factor for LBW and PB, and the risk increases with the increasing number of previous abortions. Practitioners should consider previous abortion as a risk factor for LBW and PB.

....

I'm not a research scientist or a pediatrician, but it looks to me like the Idiot Marshall has inflated the numbers in this study and also conflates low birth weight and premature birth with life long disability. They can make for a rocky start for babies, sure, but lbw and pb are certainly no guarantees of life long problems.

[ellenfl]

21. so sayeth the lord? eom

[enlightenment]

7. Ah. The classic 'non-apology'.

*quoting the entire comment, so it can't be suggested it was taken 'out of context'*

"No one who knows me or my record would imagine that I believe or intended to communicate such an offensive notion. I have devoted a generation of work to defending disabled and unwanted children, and have always maintained that they are special blessings to their parents. Nevertheless, I regret any misimpression my poorly chosen words may have created as to my deep commitment to fighting for these vulnerable children and their families."

I have to thank him. I was contemplating having something to eat until I read that. My appetite's completely gone now . . .

[Barack_America]

9. I'm sure he's sorry if we were offended.

:eyes:

[pipi_k]

10. He can spin this as much as he wants to..

but intelligent people can read what he said, and don't need to be told that they "misconstrued" anything.

[City Lights]

11. Fuck off, asswipe.

You said it, and we all know what you meant.

Seriously, go fuck yourself. Apology not accepted.

[old mark]

12. Misconstrued, my old ass...This bastard should be looking for a real job...

he should not be in public office. I see there is a petition calling for him to resign, and I hope many people in his state will sign it.

mark

[Trillo]

14. "dedicated to the lord" can be code for "sacrifice".

So much of that book seems written in code.
http://www.usbible.com/Sacrifice/sacrifice_moses.htm

[madmom]

17. Why is it that repugs always have to come back the next day and say...

"what I meant to say was...." ?

[LibertyLover]

18. I also heard him say that what he meant was

an abortion stretches the muscles and weakens them so it stood to reason that a woman who had had an abortion would have a problem carrying a child to term. Umm, ok.

[gratuitous]

19. Quoted verbatim, and it's US who misconstrued HIM

He's very sorry we didn't understand the wisdom of his words. Aren't we all ashamed of ourselves?

"Party of personal responsibility" my sweet Aunt Fanny.

[ellenfl]

20. misconstrued? how so? eom

[krabigirl]

22. It's nuts like this that will continue the Republican party's journey into obscurity.