Doug Mastriano , the Donald Trump -backed GOP nominee for governor of Pennsylvania, in 2019 agreed that women who violated a so-called fetal heartbeat abortion ban he was sponsoring should be charged with murder.

In an interview with radio station WITF that was unearthed by NBC News this week , the state senator was asked whether a woman who decided to have an abortion, which would be considered illegal abortion, be charged with murder?

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

So youre saying yes? asked the interviewer.

Yes, I am, responded Mastriano, who has backed Trumps lies that the 2020 election was stolen from him and previously drawn backlash after being photographed wearing a Confederate uniform .

Listen to the audio here.