Pennsylvania Senate candidate Mehmet Oz said in May that abortion at any stage of pregnancy is "still murder" because he believes that life begins at conception, according to newly obtained audio.
“I do believe life starts at conception, and I’ve said that multiple times," Oz, a Republican, said at the time in a tele-town hall, going on to add: "If life starts at conception, why do you care what stage our hearts starts beating at? It’s, you know, it’s still murder, if you were to terminate a child whether their heart’s beating or not."
“If you want to know the actual date, it’s usually at nine weeks that the heart starts beating. Prior to that, you have cells that are starting to connect with each other but they’re not beating in the way that you would see it on an echocardiogram,” he said.
The remarks, first reported by the Daily Beast, came on May 10, while Oz was still fighting for the Republican nomination in a contested primary, which he won on May 17. Audio of the event was obtained by NBC News Wednesday.
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