U.S. Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren sought to gain the upper hand Monday in the battle against Rep. Todd Akin after her Republican opponent, Sen. Scott Brown, called on Akin to drop his Senate bid after making a controversial statement on rape.

“Rep. Todd Akin’s comments are reprehensible. I understand that Scott Brown and other Republicans want to pretend Todd Akin is an isolated individual, but he is clearly in line with the Republican agenda. The agenda of the Republican Party is to limit access to health care services. It’s to deny women equal pay for equal work.  It’s to cut funding for Planned Parenthood. And it’s to select as a vice presidential nominee someone who co-sponsored legislation with Rep Akin to redefine ‘rape.’

“Brown has been right in the middle of this through his support for the Blunt amendment, his opposition to equal pay legislation, his endorsements of Paul Ryan on the Republican ticket and his work for a Republican majority in the Senate.”