It's not a secret that Indiana Republican Senate candidate Richard Mourdock believes abortion should only be allowed in the case of when the mother's life is in danger. But tonight he made the mistake of implying that pregnancies resulting from rape a "gift from god." Oof.

His full statement from the debate was:

I believe life begins at conception. The only exception I have for to have an abortion is in the case of the life of the mother. 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.

After the debate, Mourdock clarified his remarks to say that he didn't exactly mean what he said. He stood strong on his positions of having no abortions in the cases of rape and incest, but added, "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."

Mourdock is the first senator that Mitt Romney has starred in an ad for. The ad below premiered this week:

This sends a pretty far right and contradictory message to the middling Mitt that we saw in last night's debate. The Romney camp has already let press know that their candidate does not align himself with Mourdock's views:

This gaffe adds Mourdock to the long list of Republicans from this election season who probably wish they'd never been asked about rape.

[Think Progress]