decision 2022

In 2019, Doug Mastriano Said Women Who Violated Proposed Abortion Ban Should Be Charged With Murder

In 2019, Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano, now the Republican nominee for governor, sponsored legislation barring abortions at around six weeks. Asked if women who broke that law should be charged with murder, he said, "Yes"

Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-Franklin takes part in a forum for Republican candidates for governor of Pennsylvania at the Pennsylvania Leadership Conference in Camp Hill, Pa., April 1, 2022. Mastriano, supports an abortion ban starting at six weeks of pregnancy without exceptions for rape, incest or saving the life of the mother.
AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File

State Sen. Doug Mastriano, the Republican nominee for governor in Pennsylvania, said in 2019 that women should be charged with murder if they violated his proposed abortion ban.

In an interview with Pennsylvania radio station WITF, Mastriano was pressed about a bill he sponsored that would generally bar abortions when a fetal heartbeat could first be detected, usually around six weeks. Mastriano’s remarks in that interview were previously unreported.

Under his proposed legislation, Mastriano was asked whether a woman who decided to get an abortion at 10 weeks gestation would be charged with murder. Critics of the bill Mastriano backed, and of other "heartbeat bills," say the approximate six-week timeframe is often before many women know they are pregnant.

"OK, let’s go back to the basic question there," Mastriano said. "Is that a human being? Is that a little boy or girl? If it is, it deserves equal protection under the law."

Asked if he was saying yes, they should be charged with murder, Mastriano responded: "Yes, I am."

His campaign did not immediately respond to NBC News' request for comment.

Read the full story here on NBCNews.com

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