JR was one of the first to respond to media reports about Delegate Bob Marshall’s (R-13) recent comments.
Marshall has drawn a firestorm of criticism for what the News Leader reported him as saying: “State Delegate Bob Marshall of Manassas says disabled children are God’s punishment to women who have aborted their first pregnancy.”
But is that what he said?
In a statement released today, Marshall says “no,” and he provides video from the press conference to back up his assertion:
I never made this statement. I believe that all children, no matter their background are a blessing from the Lord, not a punishment.
Like JR, my God – the God of the Christian Scriptures – does not punish women by striking their children with a disability. That is a repugnant idea. I’ve known Bob Marshall long enough to think, “he said what?!?” when I read this story.
The Bob Marshall I know is a bulldog on behalf of the weak, the innocent and the helpless. The Bob Marshall I know has a special place in his heart for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
In viewing the video above and the transcript below, each of us has the opportunity to consider whether the reporter’s headline accurately quotes Bob Marshall.
Did he say it? Here’s the transcript:
“Thank you very much for coming here today. We are dealing with an attempt to defund, frankly, a malevolent organization. And I say that because you know people by their fruits. In 1960, 65, the out of wed-lock birthrate for blacks was 25 percent. I think it was about 23 percent in 1960 – it was 5 percent for all races. Now it’s 40 percent. It’s 72% for blacks, 51% for Latinas. These are the fruits of planned parenthood. OK. Nothing else. More heartache. More guys who are completely irresponsible and think that women have one function and one function only for a few minutes. OK. But this just isn’t affecting our families, our inner cities, our communities and our state. This poison animates a world-wide population control program that the United States funds and which is unnecessarily making us enemies overseas. We are attacking traditional family structure in a way that no country should be doing. These aren’t my words. Go read a book by Denesh DeSouza. Ok. He’s looking at it from a cultural, historical perspective. This organization should be called Planned Barrenhood cause they have nothing to do with families, they have nothing to do with responsibility. One-fourth of all abortions are done by Planned Parenthood in the United States. Ok. The number of children who are born subsequent to a first abortion who have handicaps has increased dramatically. Why? Because when you abort the first-born of any, Nature takes its vengeance on the subsequent children. 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, and with the knowledge they have from faith has been verified by a study by the Virginia Commonwealth University. First abortions of the first pregnancy are much more damaging to the woman than latter abortions. None of these are good for anybody but this organization has had its time. They have failed in their efforts and we need to defund them and not have them receive a dime of public money.”
So, essentially he’s saying that
1 – Planned Parenthood has helped produce higher out of wedlock pregnancies, and encouraged guys to use girls sexually without taking responsibility for the consequences.
2 – Planned Parenthood’s abortions are striking at the foundation of the traditional family structure and devastating our communities, especially ethnic communities.
3 – Medical research shows what people of faith know already: abortion has devastating consequences for women.
4 – Taxpayers should not be funding an organization that ends preborn human lives and hurts women. Planned Parenthood should be defunded.
Marshall’s audience is several dozen clergy / pastors, yet the word “God” doesn’t appear in the speech.
In his statement today, he explains:
My purpose was to show how authentic medical findings demonstrate that abortion has consequences beyond the death of the child being aborted. That is why I have proposed HB 334, which passed the House of Delegates 95-2, and which requires women undergoing abortion to be offered medical articles concerning possible complications in future pregnancies.
But instead, he made a natural order argument that abortions aren’t natural and have real risks for women – risks that can affect subsequent children.
I think that when you read the entirety of his comments, it is clear Marshall was not saying “Disabled kids are God’s punishments.” Rather his argument is: Abortion goes against the natural order of the world, to give birth. Interfering with this order causes harm, and we can see these harmful consequences in higher rates of birth defects among infants born to mothers who had abortions.
As a simple internet search reveals, Bob Marshall is and long has been a leader in fighting for funding for Autism research and medical insurance coverage.
Does it make sense that someone who fights so hard for children with Autism would state that these children are punishments from God?
See:
Marshall’s guest post on Virginia Tomorrow: Silence is Not An Option
Marshall’s HB 1588
Marshall’s HB 34
Letter to the Editor thanking Marshall for fighting for autistic children
Bob Marshall made a very poor choice of words in his Thursday comments. If he meant what the News Leader attributed to him, his words are inexcusable. But the Bob Marshall I know does not believe such a thing.
