South Bend, Indiana, Mayor and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg claimed Friday that human “life begins at breath,” warranting abortion of a child at any time prior to a newborn baby taking its first inhale.

Buttigieg, an adamantly progressive pro-choice candidate who often references his Christian faith on the campaign trail, used the Bible to try to justify his claim on The Breakfast Club podcast.

“There’s a lot of parts of the bible that talk about how life begins with breath,” Buttigieg said. “Even that is something that we can interpret differently.”

Buttigieg suggests we determine life when the baby draws its first breath. A 2020 presidential candidate is suggesting babies can be killed up UNTIL a baby draws its first breath. pic.twitter.com/1VSYHyjRsv — Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) September 6, 2019

Buttigieg made clear on the program that he believes, regardless of at what point different people feel the life of a human being starts, the decision to pursue an abortion is ultimately up to the mother.

“I might draw the line here, you might draw the line there, but the most important thing is the person who should be drawing the line is the woman making the decision,” Buttigieg said.

According to the American College of Pediatrics, however, “The predominance of human biological research confirms that human life begins at conception.”

Buttigieg’s doubling down on abortion comes less than a week prior to the third Democratic primary debate slated to take place in Houston on Sept. 12. Buttigieg will appear on stage alongside nine other top Democratic candidates competing for the party’s nomination to take on President Donald Trump next fall.

Buttigieg, a mayor of a minor American city in northwest Indiana, has surprised many by his success in the race, consistently polling in the top 10 candidates in recent months and qualifying for the third and fourth Democratic debates, edging out governors and senators in the race.

RealClearPolitics’ latest aggregate of polls places Buttigieg in fifth place in the crowded field with 4.4% support.