North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson says he wants abortion to be illegal at ‘zero’ weeks, in new audio released by Democrats

A Democratic group has released new audio of North Carolina Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who is running for governor, saying that he wants to get abortion restrictions down to “zero” weeks.

In the audio, which the group said was recorded on Sept. 3 at a Robinson campaign event in Troy, N.C., a woman asked Robinson about his stance on abortion and why he was supporting North Carolina’s current 12-week ban on the procedure.

Robinson replied by saying, “That 12 weeks, exceptions for rape and incest … I’m not going to say it’s reasonable. But my faith allows me to live with that, because that’s where the consensus is. Do I want to continue to lower it? You better know it. I would love to get down to six weeks. And I’d like to get down to zero. I would like to push it back as far as we could and eliminate as many abortions as we can.”

“We can’t do it all at once,” he added. “The Democrats started off with Roe v. Wade, then moved to ‘safe, legal, and rare.’ Then they got to where? Nine months in the womb. They did that over 50 years. … And we can do it.”

The recording, which was shared with NBC News, was published by the Mark Robinson War Room, a project of the North Carolina Democratic Leadership Committee, which is backed by the Democratic Governors Association. The group said it was established for the “sole purpose of holding Lt. Governor Mark Robinson accountable for his toxic record and dangerous agenda for North Carolina.” Robinson is running against Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein.

Publicly, Robinson has stood behind allowing current restrictions in North Carolina to stand. The lieutenant governor acknowledged in a TV ad earlier this year that his wife had an abortion 30 years ago and offered support for the current abortion restrictions in North Carolina, which limit the procedure after 12 weeks of pregnancy, with exceptions for rape, incest or the life of the mother.

But Robinson is advocating for measures that go further. He made similar comments at a campaign event in February, saying, “We’ve got it down to 12 weeks, the next goal is to get it down to six, and then just keep moving from there,” referring to abortion, a local Fox News affiliate reported.

In the audio shared with NBC News, Robinson also told the woman that he has not changed his stance on abortion “at all” and that “there’s no reason why an abortion should happen ever.”

“I’m 100% for life, and that’s how I think it should be. If I’m a pastor in the pulpit, that’s what I’m preaching. If I’m counseling someone, a young lady, a couple, that’s what I’m telling them. I’m telling them, ‘Choose life for your child,’” he added.

Robinson then explained that he was not a pastor, and that as an elected official he needed to work with the consensus.

“Now a lot of people say, ‘Well, that’s changing your position. That’s giving up your conviction.’ Not it’s not,” Robinson said. “You got to be an elected official. You have to be mature enough in your faith to watch people do things that you disagree with and allow them to do it because we don’t live in a theocracy. If we have politicians who start running the country like they run their church, then we end up like Iran. That’s not how this country was formed.”

Stein has been an outspoken supporter of abortion rights and has vowed to defend access to the procedure.

When asked about the comments Robinson made about taking abortions down to “zero,” Mike Lonergan, the communications director for Robinson’s campaign, sent a written statement.

“Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson is pro-life because of the painful and difficult experience he and his wife had, and his faith,” Lonergan said in the statement. “By supporting taxpayer-funded, late-term abortion on demand, Kamala Harris and Josh Stein are extreme and out of step with North Carolina voters. They are using the same playbook that failed here in 2022, and it’ll fail again in 2024.”

“The legislature has already spoken on this issue,” Lonergan added. “As governor, Mark Robinson will work to make North Carolina a destination for life by building a culture that does more to support women and families, including bolstering adoption, as well as foster and childcare.”

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com