Several leading Colorado Republicans lashed out Thursday against state Rep. Gordon Klingenschmitt, saying his “curse of God” comments about an attack on a pregnant woman whose baby was cut from her womb were “disgusting” and “reprehensible.”

The lawmaker, who also is a minister, quoted the Bible in his “Pray In Jesus Name” program Wednesday and tried to link the crime to abortion.

“This is the curse of God upon America for our sin of not protecting innocent children in the womb and part of that curse for our rebellion against God as a nation is that our pregnant women are ripped open,” Klingenschmitt said.

Among those who denounced the remarks: two fellow El Paso County Republicans, Laura Carno, who in January started a Facebook page called “Conservatives against Gordon Klingenschmitt,” and former Rep. Mark Waller, whose used to represent the House district in Colorado Springs now held by Klingenschmitt.

“It’s disgusting. I thought Gordon Klingenschmitt would be our next Todd Akin,” Carno said Thursday. “I didn’t know he would be our next Westboro Baptist Church. This poor woman gets her baby cut out of her belly and he uses this tragedy to drive traffic to his ministry.”

Akin is the Missouri U.S. Senate candidate who lost his bid in 2012 after saying women rarely get pregnant in cases of “legitimate rape.” The Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas has been described as a hate group and has been denounced by fellow Baptists and others for its attacks primarily on gays, including grotesque displays at funerals.

Klingenschmitt said his nonprofit charity has donated $1,000 to Michelle Wilkins’ family and he challenged other lawmakers to donate a minimum of $5.

The 26-year-old survived the attack, but her 34-week-old fetus did not. Klingenschmitt said he “weeps” for the victims, and he urged the legislature to pass a law that would allow prosecutors to bring charges when unborn babies are injured or killed.

But Waller, who pushed for the passage of such a bill, said Klingenschmitt’s comments “do nothing to advance the cause for us.”

Sarah Zagorski, the executive director of Colorado Citizens for Life, the affiliate of National Right to Life, said her group supports such a law and she also was critical of Klingenschmitt’s remarks.

” God did not will for this horrific tragedy to happen,” Zagorski said. “Sadly, Rep. Klingenschmitt’s comments take away from the seriousness of this tragedy and the aftermath Michelle and her family are facing.”

Klingenschmitt’s remarks were first posted by Right Wing Watch, which said when he discussed the incident in Longmont he “tied it to a passage from Hosea in which God curses the people of Samaria for their rebellion by declaring that ‘their little ones shall be dashed in pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open.’ “

Klingenschmitt’s colleagues in the House criticized his comments.

“Rep. Klingenschmitt is politicizing a terrible human tragedy,” said Rep. Beth McCann, D-Denver. “The statement was incredibly insensitive to a family that has been through an unimaginable horrific experience.”

Rep. Polly Lawrence, R-Douglas County, said she was “appalled.”

“Gordon does not speak for his caucus,” said Lawrence, the House assistant minority leader.

Steve House, the new chairman of the state GOP, said Klingenschmitt under the First Amendment has the right to say what he wants but “he does not represent the Colorado Republican Party.”

Former chairman Ryan Call said the same thing last year when Klingenschmitt won his primary election for Waller’s seat. The district is heavily Republican so Klingenschmitt had a clear path to victory in November. At the time, a number of articles detailed Klingenschmitt’s background. Klingenschmitt, a former Navy chaplain believes being gay is a sin and often compared President Barack Obama to a demon on his daily religious television show. Last August, Klingenschmitt accused U.S. Rep. Jared Polis of Boulder, whom he described as an “openly homosexual congressman,” of wanting to join Islamic terrorists and behead Christians.

The two shook hands during their first meeting, when Polis on Jan. 15 was in the Colorado House to hear Gov. John Hickenlooper deliver his State of the State speech.

At the time, Polis talked to Klingenschmitt about the problems of saying one thing as a minister, but not being able to separate that from his job as a lawmaker, the two told The Denver Post.

“I answered, ‘You might be trying to give me good political advice, so maybe I should say thank you,’ ” Klingenschmitt said, at the time. ” ‘However, I feel I should not forsake my identity as a minister, or stop believing and preaching the Bible on Sundays, just because I got elected.’ “

Carno said she started the Facebook page at the start of the 2015 session because she believed it was only a matter of time before Klingenschmitt’s comments provoked an outrage, and she wanted Coloradans to know many Republicans do not side with him.

Waller said Klingenschmitt’s comments referencing the Longmont crime “were terrible regardless of whether you’re a member of the clergy or of the state legislature.”

The crime that spurred Klingenschmitt’s remarks occurred March 18 when Wilkins, who was seven months pregnant, called 911 to say she was “bleeding out” in the basement of a Longmont home after responding to a Craigslist ad about baby clothes.

“She cut me,” Michelle Wilkins told the operator between moans and heavy breathing. “I’m pregnant.”

Police have arrested 34-year-old Dynel Lane, who had told various stories about being pregnant or having a baby.

Waller said he is concerned that Wilkins, who has been released from the hospital, will read Klingenschmitt’s comments.

“It’s just plain wrong to say something like that, this poor woman,” he said. “This was a horrible tragedy.”

Her family declined to comment.

Lynn Bartels: 303-954-5327, lbartels@denverpost.com or twitter.com/lynn_bartels

Staff writer Jesse Paul contributed to this report.