A Republican state lawmaker who has been criticized by the Maine Democratic Party for his past statements about homosexuality, rape and abortion, said Wednesday that he regrets the comments, the Morning Sentinel reported.

Democrats called for state Rep. Lawrence Lockman’s resignation after blogger Mike Tipping chronicled Lockman's public statements since the 1980s in a blog post Tuesday.

Among other declarations and protestations concerning the IRS, HIV/AIDS and homosexuality, Lockman, then president of the Pro-Life Education Association, said in a letter sent in 1990 that he didn't see why rape shouldn't be acceptable if abortion is legal.

"If a woman has [the right to an abortion], why shouldn’t a man be free to use his superior strength to force himself on a woman?" Lockman wrote. "At least the rapist’s pursuit of sexual freedom doesn’t [in most cases] result in anyone’s death."

Lockman released a statement Wednesday in which he said he regrets his comments.