Republican House District 74 candidate Daniel Sparkman is calling on State Rep. John Rogers (D-Birmingham) to resign over his Tuesday remarks on abortion that made national headlines for all the wrong reasons.

In a statement on Thursday afternoon, Sparkman said, “I appreciate Rep. John Rogers’ years of service to the state of Alabama and firmly believe our democracy is made strong through healthy debate. However, Rep. Rogers’ comments that ‘some children are unwanted’ and deserve to be murdered violates all levels of human decency and is unbecoming of a representative of the people.”

He continued, “Therefore, I am publicly calling on the Alabama Democrat Party to disavow these comments, and for Rep. Rogers to resign immediately and apologize for his demeaning, hateful and unconscionable comments. I’m running for State House to represent the values of Alabama, it’s clear Rep. Rogers has turned his back on those values and the people of Alabama, especially our children.”

This came after Rogers spoke with Yellowhammer News earlier in the day, standing by and elaborating on his viral comments.

Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn