Despite the court battles playing out in other states over their enacted abortion bans from the moment a fetal heartbeat is detected, two Pennsylvania lawmakers are undeterred in their pursuit for a similar law here.

Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-Franklin County, and Rep. Stephanie Borowicz, R-Clinton County, are teaming up to push for a state law that they refer to as a “heartbeat bill.”

Mastriano said in a memo he is circulating to garner support from his Senate colleagues that the science that justified abortion in the 1960s isn’t the science of today that “shows more than 90 percent of all pregnancies are viable when a heartbeat is detected.”

He told PennLive, “I want to fight for their lives, the most innocent people in the world. They have a right to live, too.”

“This legislation will be another great rallying cry for us to save babies around this state and possibly around the nation,” Borowicz states in her co-sponsorship memo to her House colleagues. She was unable to be reached for further comment.

These two conservative Republicans, however, face an unwavering opponent in the governor’s office.

Gov. Tom Wolf has said this bill would receive an immediate veto if it reaches his desk.

“This bill defies all medical and practical understanding of modern women’s health care,” said J.J. Abbott, a spokesman for Wolf. “Many women do not even know if they are pregnant at six weeks. Governor Wolf opposes any further restrictions on women’s health care and believes Harrisburg politicians should keep these decisions between a woman and her doctor.”

Despite that, Mastriano thinks it is still worth having a conversation about this issue that he says has for too long been “legislated from the courts rather than by the people.”

“Maybe he’ll have a change of heart once we make the case,” Mastriano said, referring to Wolf. “If we approach it from the scientific perspective, maybe it’ll win some over.”

Pennsylvania’s abortion law allows the procedure up to 24 weeks of pregnancy for any reason except to choose the gender. Abortions can be performed after that if the woman’s health is in danger.

Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania Advocates oppose this latest abortion proposal, just as they did with another abortion bill that Wolf vetoed in 2017 that would have banned abortions after 20 weeks and another measure that bans abortions on the basis of a prenatal Down syndrome diagnosis.

“It really speaks to the waste of taxpayer time and money when you come down to it,” said Ashley Lenker White, the group’s executive director. “It’s part of a larger political agenda and coordinated effort to dismantle access to safe legal abortion and people’s rights.”

Abortion rights are under attack across the nation. Lenker White said so far this year, 26 bans on abortion have been enacted in 17 states. Five of those are the so-called “heartbeat bills” or six-week abortion bans as she refers to them – Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Ohio. The courts so far have blocked all five from taking effect, saying they are unconstitutional.

But supporters of several of the abortion laws enacted this year have made known their goal is to try to bring their cases to the U.S. Supreme Court, where there is currently a five-member conservative majority. The ultimate goal is overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion, supporters say.

Mastriano said he isn’t thinking that strategically. Rather, he said, “I really truly see it as a life and death issue and what can I do to try to save lives."

He said he is open to discussions about working in some exceptions to his proposed ban on abortions after a heartbeat is detected.

But Lenker White has no interest in that.

“People gained rights under Roe v. Wade. They were affirmed and going backwards is just not an option,” she said. “We here at Planned Parenthood are going to continue to fight to uphold the rights of individuals and their health care access. So we’re going to do whatever it takes to maintain what we need to maintain here in Pennsylvania.”