Toni Braxton drops more than a few bombshells in her new memoir, but by far the most extreme is her apparent belief that God gave her 11-year-old son autism because she once had an abortion.

Braxton, who discusses a secret abortion she had in 2001 in the new book, Unbreak My Heart, writes that her guilt over the procedure was compounded by her deeply religious upbringing.

Via The Frisky:

"I was suddenly faced with a choice I'd never thought I'd have to make. Amid my major misgivings about abortion, I eventually made the gut-wrenching decision… In my heart, I believed I had taken a life — an action that I thought God might one day punish me for. … My initial rage was quickly followed by another strong emotion: guilt. I knew I'd taken a life… I believed God's payback was to give my son autism."

But she later appeared to split the blame with vaccinations, writing, "Maybe it's just a coincidence that after my son's first MMR vaccine, I began to notice changes in him."

However, Braxton backtracked a bit during a recent interview with People Magazine, saying, "I thought I was being punished for having an abortion. But I realized there is nothing wrong with my baby. He just learns differently."

[image via AP]