Indiana Republican Senate candidate Richard Mourdock on Wednesday defended and sought to his explain his remark that pregnancy resulting from rape can be "something that God intended," as party leaders carefully responded to the incident. 
 
 Mourdock made the comment when asked during a debate Tuesday whether abortion should be allowed in cases of rape or incest. 
 
 "I struggled with it myself for a long time, but I came to realize that life is that gift from God. And, I think, even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen," Mourdock said. 
 
 The candidate explained afterward that he was referring to pregnancy, and nothing else. 
 
 "I made a comment that I made quite honestly from the deepest roots and the greatest base of my faith which is to say that I believe life is precious. I believe that to the marrow of my bones. I believe that life itself is the greatest gift that God can give us," he said, adding: "I absolutely abhor violence. I abhor any kind of sexual violence. I abhor rape." 
 
 Mourdock went on to express regret for his phrasing. 
 
 "If because of the lack of clarity in my words that they came away with an impression other than those that I stated a moment ago -- that life is precious and that I abhor violence and I am confident God abhors violence and rape -- if they came away with any impression other than that, I truly regret it and I apologize if they came away." 
 
 Republicans leaders were divided in their response to the controversy. 
 
 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney distanced himself from the statement. 
 
 "Gov. Romney disagrees with Richard Mourdock's comments, and they do not reflect his views," spokeswoman Andrea Saul told Fox News. 
 
 A campaign source, though, said they have not asked the campaign to pull an ad featuring Romney, making clear the Republican nominee still supports him despite disagreements with Mourdock over exceptions for cases of rape and incest in their anti-abortion position. 
 
 Republican New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte also cancelled a trip to Indiana after the remark. "She disagrees with Treasurer Mourdock's comments, which do not represent her views," an aide said. 
 
 Mourdock is facing Democratic Rep. Joe Donnelly in the Senate race. 
 
 The comment comes after Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin said in August that women's bodies have ways of preventing pregnancy in cases of what he called "legitimate rape." Akin has repeatedly apologized but has refused to leave his race despite calls to do so by leaders of his own party, including Romney. 
 
 Sen. John Cornyn, head of the Republicans' Senate campaign arm, effectively cut off Akin after that comment. However, Cornyn defended Mourdock on Wednesday. 
 
 "Richard and I, along with millions of Americans -- including even Joe Donnelly -- believe that life is a gift from God. To try and construe his words as anything other than a restatement of that belief is irresponsible and ridiculous," Cornyn said in a statement. 
 
 Mourdock's comments shake Republicans as they try to gain a majority in the Senate. 
 
 Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz described Mourdock's comments as "outrageous and demeaning to women" and called on Romney to take his pro-Mourdock ad off the air. 
 
 "Enough is enough. The Republican Party needs to stop the coddling and take a stand against the horribly offensive and dangerous views of the Tea Party and their extreme candidates," said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. 
 
 The Associated Press contributed to this report. ||||| In a Tuesday night debate with his Democratic rival and a Libertarian candidate for one of Indiana's U.S. Senate seats, Republican candidate Richard Mourdock suggested that pregnancies resulting from rape are "something that God intended to happen," despite the "horrible situation" from which they derived. 
 
 Mourdock, a Tea Party-backed candidate who beat longtime moderate Senator Richard Lugar in the state's Republican nominating contest earlier this year, expressed his view that "life begins at conception" and that he would only allow abortions in circumstances in which the mother's life was in danger. 
 
 "I struggled with it myself for a long time, but I came to realize life is that gift from God," Mourdock said. "And I think even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen." 
 
 Democrats immediately pounced on his comments, and Donnelly -- who is also pro-life but who supports exceptions for rape and incest -- released a statement questioning the notion that God would "intend for rape to happen." 
 
 "The God I believe in and the God I know most Hoosiers believe in, does not intend for rape to happen -- ever," Donnelly said. "What Mr. Mourdock said is shocking, and it is stunning that he would be so disrespectful to survivors of rape." 
 
 Mourdock, seeking to clarify his comments in a press conference following the debate, said he had intended to say that "God creates life," and that any interpretation of his comments to mean God "pre-ordained rape" were "sick" and "twisted." 
 
 "What I said was, in answering the question form my position of faith, I said I believe that God creates life. I believe that as wholly and as fully as I can believe it. That God creates life," Mourdock said. "Are you trying to suggest that somehow I think that God pre-ordained rape? No, I don't think that. That's sick. Twisted. That's not even close to what I said. What I said is that God creates life." 
 
 While to the right on Lugar with regard to issues relating both to reproductive rights and others, Mourdock's stance on abortion is hardly an anomaly in the Republican party. His comments echo similar remarks made by former Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum, a staunch pro-life social conservative, while he was still in the midst of a bid for the White House. 
 
 "I think the right approach is to accept this horribly created -- in the sense of rape -- but nevertheless a gift in a very broken way, the gift of human life, and accept what God has given to you," Santorum told CNN's Piers Morgan in January. "We have to make the best of a bad situation." 
 
 At the GOP convention in Tampa this year, the party approved a platform with language calling for a constitutional amendment banning abortion. The language, which is the same as in the party's 2004 and 2008 platform, did not provide exceptions for victims of rape or incest, or to save the life of the mother. 
 
 Mourdock isn't the first Republican Senate candidate this cycle to inspire headlines about comments relating to rape and abortion. Todd Akin, Missouri's embattled Republican Senate candidate, was rebuked even by his own party when he suggested that pregnancies resulting from what he called "legitimate rape" were "really rare." 
 
 Akin's comments were roundly decried by Democrats and Republicans alike, and a spokesperson for the Romney campaign said that Romney and Ryan "disagree" with Akin's statement. 
 
 Romney, who has endorsed Mourdock, recently appeared in a campaign video on behalf of Mourdock, and campaigned with him in Evansville, Indiana, on Aug. 4. Paul Ryan, who, like Mourdock, opposes all abortions except to save the life of the mother, appeared at an open press funder with him on Sept. 17. Romney opposes abortion with exceptions for the victims of rape and incest and if the life of the mother is at risk. 
 
 In a statement released Tuesday night, Romney spokesperson Andrea Saul said Mourdock's remarks were not in line with Romney's views. 
 
 "Gov. Romney disagrees with Richard Mourdock's comments, and they do not reflect his views," Saul said.
– The GOP is on damage control duty after controversial comments on rape from another one of its candidates. Senate candidate Richard Mourdock said that pregnancies resulting from rape are "something that God intended to happen," when answering a question on abortion in a debate in Indiana last night, CBS reports. Democrats quickly attacked the remarks from the Tea Party-backed candidate, labeling him a "zealot." MItt Romney distanced himself from Mourdock after his remarks, the AP reports. Romney "disagrees with Richard Mourdock's comments, and they do not reflect his views," a spokesman said, but aides wouldn't say whether Romney would drop his support for Mourdock's Senate bid. After the debate, the candidate tried to clarify his remarks, saying that he meant "God creates life." Any suggestion that he believes that "God preordained rape" is "sick and twisted," Mourdock told reporters.