A California state Republican has a novel new solution to the state’s crippling drought: Ban abortions and God will let it rain.

State Assemblywoman Shannon Grove is under fire for suggesting that abortion was to blame for California’s water woes in comments before advocates and religious leaders at the California ProLife Legislative Banquet last week. In her remarks, first reported by RH Reality Check, Grove tipped her hat to Texas for passing an omnibus anti-abortion bill in 2013 – a move she suggests prompted God to pay it forward.

“Texas was in a long period of drought until Governor Perry signed the fetal pain bill,” Grove said, according to RH Reality Check. “It rained that night. Now God has His hold on California.”

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Following a flurry of headlines over her comments, Grove went on to defend her point to her critics on Facebook and walk back her remark.

“Is this drought caused by God? Nobody knows. But biblical history shows a consequence to man’s actions; we do know for sure that California’s water shortage crisis has been compounded by liberal politicians’ poor decisions - not properly managing our water resources and refusing to build water storage for decades,” Gove wrote.

California is in the midst of a devastating drought that has gone on relentlessly for more than four years. State officials announced historic cutbacks on Friday impacting farmers in Northern California who are some of the most senior water rights holders in the state, having laid claim to the surface water for for more than a century.