(Harrisburg) -- A state lawmaker says he stands by his comments that workers at natural gas drilling sites are causing a rise in sexually transmitted diseases. Democratic Representative Mike Sturla of Lancaster County wrote in an e-mail to a reporter that workers at well sites are "spreading sexually transmitted disease amongst the womenfolk." House Republicans have called Sturla’s comments a misinformed hate-speech. But, he points to reports submitted to the Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission calling for more health services to address the rise in STDs. "That’s all I said. I may have done it in a rather insensitive way, and if anyone was offended by the insensitivity, I apologize for that," he says. "But, I won’t apologize for saying there’s higher STDs in those areas. That’s a fact." Sturla cites a report put out by last May by Troy Community Hospital in Bradford County, an area with heavy drilling activity. It recommends an increasing the availability of Department of Health services related to STDs and substance abuse.