Massachusetts GOP Candidate Slams 'Moron' Lawmaker's Rape Comment

(Dave Roback/Springfield-Republican/AP Photo)

Gabriel Gomez, the Republican candidate for the open Massachusetts Senate seat, has harsh words for "moron" Republican Rep. Trent Franks, who said today that the rate of pregnancies resulting from rape is "very low."

"I think that he's a moron and he proves that stupid has no specific political affiliation," Gomez told ABC News of his fellow Republican.

Gomez said he will not support the bill Franks has sponsored, which proposes a national ban on abortions after 20 weeks. Gomez said he is personally anti-abortion, and would not "change any laws" or make it more difficult for women to get abortions.

"I have no idea what goes into the mind of a moron like that," he added. "These kinds of comments only come from a moron and they shouldn't be tolerated one bit."

In a House Judiciary Committee hearing today, Franks, R-Ariz., made the comments today during a House Judiciary Committee hearing as part of his objection to a Democratic amendment that would allow an exception to the 20-week ban for rape and incest.

"The incidents of rape resulting in pregnancy are very low," Franks said. "When you make that exception, there's usually a requirement to report the rape within 48 hours and, in this case, that's impossible because this is in the sixth month of gestation and that's what completely negates and vitiates the purpose of such an amendment."

It's unclear on what numbers Franks based his comments, but The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) estimates that up to 5 percent of rape victims become pregnant.

Democrats immediately seized on Frank's comments as calling to mind a controversial statement by former Missouri Rep. Todd Akin, who suggested that pregnancy is unlikely in cases of "legitimate rape."

In Massachusetts, Gomez will face off against Democratic Rep. Ed Markey in a special election to fill the Senate seat vacated by Secretary of State John Kerry.

He hopes to pull off a Republican upset in a normally Democratic state and has positioned himself as a moderate Republican who is willing to buck his party if elected to the Senate.

President Obama traveled to Massachusetts today to rally and raise money for Markey, which Gomez said he welcomed.

"I'm honored and humbled by the fact that the president came to Boston because of me," Gomez, 47, said. "I wrote him a letter yesterday saying that I look forward to meeting with him.

"I'm sure that we can find common ground … reasonable, common sense solutions to the problems that we face."