WASHINGTON, D.C.,—Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, called Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s comments on a proposed abortion bill “nothing short of horrifying, and a shock to any functioning conscience.”

In response, Moore commented:

“The governor’s statement is morally reprehensible and ghoulish to the core. How seared must a conscience be for a leader to discuss leaving born-alive children to die with the cavalier indifference as if he were discussing the relative merits of a water treatment plant in Danville or Culpeper? Human beings are not animals to be farmed, and not machines to be deprogrammed when they are not considered state-of-the-art. Children have intrinsic value that is defined not by their power, nor by the whim of doctors, but by the image of God each one of them bears.

“Thankfully, we as Americans have the voice of another, greater Virginian: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.’ If Mr. Jefferson’s words are true then Gov. Northam’s words are false.”

Earlier today, Northam appeared on WTOP’s “Ask The Governor,” and defended the Repeal Act, a proposed bill that would allow for abortion up until the moment of childbirth. “If a mother is in labor . . . the infant would be delivered,” Northam said during the interview. “The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and mother.”

Moore also tweeted in response to Northam’s comment saying: “My oldest son was born at 28 weeks, fighting for life and with severe health issues, in a Russian village. I thank God every day his birth mother did not share the ghoulish view of his worth and dignity that we are hearing today.”