Virginia State Delegate Bob Marshall has said he plans to renew a push for social issues.

Though Marshall, a Republican, lost his bid for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate, he kept his old job in the Virginia House of Delegates.

“The number of children who are born subsequent to a first abortion with handicaps has increased dramatically,” Marshall reportedly said at a press conference last week calling for an end to state funding of Planned Parenthood. “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.”

Marshall expanded on his comments in a statement, saying he never “intended to communicate such an offensive notion.”

“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.”

Earlier this year, Marshall created a firestorm of protest when he insisted that “sodomy is not a civil right” in the course of explaining his opposition to an openly gay judicial nominee.

(Source: AP/CBS)