U.S. Senate candidate Richard Mourdock (R-IN) refused to apologize for suggesting that pregnancies that result from rapes are a “gift from God,” during a press conference on Wednesday morning. Instead, he doubled down, claiming that while God would not condone rape, life that results from the violent act is a gift: “Life is precious, I believe it is a gift from God, I believe that God would never want anyone harmed, sexually abused, raped.” Watch it:
Mourdock made the initial controversial remarks at a debate on Tuesday evening, causing some prominent Republicans to distance themselves from the candidate.
“I spoke from my heart…when speaking from the deepest level of my faith, I cannot apologize,” Mourdock explained, though he expressed regret that some people misunderstood what he said and claimed that the controversy demonstrates “what’s wrong with Washington today.” He also reiterated that he still does not believe that women should be able to obtain abortions in cases of rape.
“The one exception I see for abortion is for that choice when the doctor realizes that the woman’s life is in danger,” he said. “I said life is precious. I believe life is precious. I believe rape is a brutal act. It is something that I abhore and that anyone can come away with any meaning with what I just said is regrettable and for that I apologize. I know the reverence I have for life.”
At Tuesday’s debate, Mourdock said: “I struggled with myself for a long time but I came to realize life is that gift from God, even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape. It is something that God intended to happen.”