LANSING — The Gander reported today that Mike Rogers, Peter Meijer, James Craig, and Sandy Pensler all have dangerous anti-abortion records that are out-of-step with Michigan voters.
Here’s where the Republicans in the “caustic” Michigan Senate primary stand on abortion:
- Mike Rogers has “voiced support for a near-total abortion ban,” and his record is “littered with votes for anti-abortion bills” including co-sponsoring a bill that “sought to ban and criminalize abortions across the country.”
- Peter Meijer said that he “does see a need for federal legislation to ban or restrict abortion,” “voted against the federal Women’s Health Protection Act,” and “refused to denounce the concept of a nationwide abortion ban.”
- James Craig “reportedly vowed to block any attempt by Democrats to repeal Michigan’s 90-year-old ban on abortion,” and said he would do whatever he can to stop “Democratic lawmakers ‘from undoing the law that makes abortion illegal in Michigan.’”
- Sandy Pensler said “I have the same position on being pro-life as President Reagan and President Trump” and he called Roe v. Wade “tyrannical.”
Read the Gander’s reporting on the GOP Senate candidates’ stances on banning access to reproductive health care:
The Gander: Michigan Republicans align against abortion rights amid attempt to flip US Senate seat
- Four of the leading Republican candidates running for a chance to represent Michigan in the US Senate have each voiced support for restricting access to abortion.
- Among them: Former US Reps. Mike Rogers and Peter Meijer; Detroit-area businessman Sandy Pensler; and former Detroit Police Chief James Craig—all of whom are candidates in the Aug. 6 Republican primary election for a soon-to-be vacant seat in the US Senate.
- If ex-President Donald Trump and anti-abortion Republicans manage to take control of the federal government in 2025, it could lead to sweeping, nationwide restrictions on abortion—even in Michigan, where those rights are now protected by the state Constitution.
- Here’s a look at the four leading Republican candidates for Senate in Michigan and where they stand on reproductive freedom:
- Former Republican US Rep. Mike Rogers… has made it clear over the course of his political career that he opposes reproductive rights.
- In 2010, Rogers voiced support for a near-total abortion ban in response to an MLive candidate survey, where he stated “abortions should be legal only to prevent the death of the mother.”
- More recently, after Roe v. Wade and the constitutional right to abortion care was overturned, Rogers reportedly told the Daily Mining Gazette that he supported the decision—and he also vowed to back additional restrictions to care, such as a “full ban on federal funding for abortion.”
- And had he lived in Michigan instead of Florida last year, Rogers told reporters that he would’ve voted against Proposal 3 to cement the right to reproductive freedom—including abortion care—into the state Constitution, which passed with about 56% of the vote last year.
- Rogers also told voters at a town hall event in New Hampshire last summer that he has “been a pro-life candidate my entire career.”
- His congressional record is also littered with votes for anti-abortion bills.
- In 2012, Rogers voted for a bill that would’ve banned most abortions (without exceptions for rape or incest) in Washington, D.C. And about one year later, he co-sponsored legislation with US Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) that sought to ban and criminalize abortions across the country.
- … Rogers later voted in support of another anti-abortion bill in 2013 that aimed to ban abortions after 20 weeks, with limited exceptions.
- Rogers also voted for other anti-abortion bills—including legislation to force patients to receive a misinformation-filled “Unborn Child Pain Awareness Brochure” before getting an abortion.
- In 2021, Craig reportedly vowed to block any attempt by Democrats to repeal Michigan’s 90-year-old ban on abortion, which made it a felony to perform an abortion in the state.
- That law has since been ruled unconstitutional and repealed—but had Craig been behind the governor’s desk instead of Whitmer, he made it clear that he would oppose reproductive rights.
- … Craig was asked if he would stop Democratic lawmakers “from undoing the law that makes abortion illegal in Michigan.”
- He responded: “I will do whatever I can—I’m pro-life.”
- In 2022, Meijer said that he supported the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, and also took it a step further—telling the Detroit News that he “does see a need for federal legislation to ban or restrict abortion” nationwide, with no exceptions for rape or incest.
- Meijer was questioned on the topic again last year during an episode of PBS’ Off the Record, where he still refused to denounce the concept of a nationwide abortion ban—even after the vast majority of Michiganders voted to cement reproductive rights into the state Constitution.
- While in Congress, Meijer also voted against the federal Women’s Health Protection Act, which aimed to create federal legal protections for both providers and patients of reproductive care.
- And Michiganders don’t need to look far to decipher his views on abortion: “I have the same position on being pro-life as President Reagan and President Trump,” Pensler said.
- In past campaigns, Pensler also made it clear that he opposes reproductive rights—even once labeling the precedent set in Roe v. Wade as “tyrannical.”
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