LANSING — Mike Rogers, Peter Meijer, Sandy Pensler, and Justin Amash all have long, dangerous anti-abortion records that are out-of-step with Michigan voters. The Republican Senate candidates can’t run away from their toxic anti-choice views.
Here’s where the Michigan GOP Senate candidates stand on restricting access to reproductive health care:
- Mike Rogers supports “a near-total abortion ban” and co-sponsored four fetal personhood bills that “could restrict or effectively ban IVF.” He refuses to protect IVF in the Senate and won’t answer for his past anti-IVF votes. Rogers would’ve voted against Proposal 3 if he “had lived in Michigan instead of Florida in 2022.”
- Peter Meijer “sees a need for federal legislation to ban or restrict abortion” and “opposes exceptions for rape or incest.” In Congress, Meijer voted against the Women’s Health Protection Act, and he co-sponsored a fetal personhood bill that could jeopardize access to IVF. Meijer refuses to answer if he’d sponsor the Life at Conception Act again in the Senate.
- Sandy Pensler described Roe v. Wade as a “terrible” and “tyrannical” decision by the court and said he has “the same position on being pro-life as President Reagan and President Trump.”
- Justin Amash is “100% pro-life,” supports an abortion ban, and co-sponsored a bill to restrict IVF. Amash believes that “life begins at conception.”
See for yourself:
The Gander: Mike Rogers tries to distance Senate campaign from past attempts to ban IVF
- During his 14 years in Congress, Rogers lobbied for a nationwide abortion ban and repeatedly introduced federal legislation that would’ve restricted access to reproductive health care—including four bills that would’ve made IVF treatment illegal nationwide.
- In 2005, Rogers co-sponsored a resolution called the “Right to Life Act” that sought to define human life and legal personhood as beginning at “the moment of fertilization.”
- After that bill failed, Rogers co-sponsored another bill in 2008 that again sought to legally define personhood as beginning at the moment of conception—which would’ve provided frozen embryos with the same constitutional rights and protections as human beings.
- Rogers tried again by co-sponsoring similar legislation in 2009 that sought to provide full constitutional protections for “the right to life of each born and preborn human person.” Like the others, the resolution was introduced but never received a vote.
- In 2013, Rogers also co-sponsored legislation called the “Life at Conception Act” that, like the name implies, defined personhood as beginning “at the moment of fertilization.”
- Beyond IVF, Rogers has also made clear that he opposes abortion rights in Michigan—including voicing support for a near-total abortion ban and the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Rogers also told the Daily Mining Gazette that he wants to ban all federal funding for abortion care.
- And had he lived in Michigan instead of Florida in 2022, Rogers has also 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.
Detroit News: “[Rogers] did not commit to supporting legislation to protect it at the federal level… Asked about how the fetal personhood bills he sponsored in Congress squared with his support for IVF, Rogers refused to discuss the legislation… [Meijer] did not say whether he’d sponsor the Life at Conception Act again if elected to the Senate.”
Detroit News: How abortion could affect Michigan swing races for U.S. House this fall
- Meijer supports overturning Roe, which he called “poorly reasoned.”
- … Meijer said he does see a need for federal legislation to ban or restrict abortion…
- Meijer voted no on the Women’s Health Protection Act and criticized it as going “so far and beyond” what was in Roe…
- Meijer opposes exceptions for rape or incest…
Michigan Independent: Meet Sandy Pensler, the pro-Trump Republican who just joined the Michigan Senate race
- Pensler: “My wife and I think that abortion is a bad thing and that government should do what it can to limit it. I think Roe v. Wade was a terrible decision by a court, really an almost tyrannical decision by nine people on the rest of the country.”
- “I have the same position on being pro-life as President Reagan and President Trump,” Pensler said in a July 2018 debate.
The New Republic: “While [Amash’s] support for an abortion ban after 20 weeks is alienating…”
Fox 17: Amash: “As a person who is… 100% pro-life.”
American Journal News: Michigan GOP senate candidate Justin Amash voted to restrict IVF
- ….A review of [Amash’s] record shows a litany of anti-abortion votes that are in-lock step with the most extreme members of his party.
- In 2009, when Amash was serving in the Michigan House of Representatives, he co-sponsored legislation to strictly regulate in vitro fertilization.
- In congress, Amash received an A+ rating from the Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America group, which scores lawmakers on how anti-abortion they are. The group celebrated Amash’s co-sponsoring of a 2019 bill that sought to ban taxpayer funding for abortion care. They also noted Amash’s opposition to the Equality Act which would’ve classified efforts to ban abortion as discrimination.
CNN: Where Justin Amash stands on key issues
- Amash has said he opposes abortion…
- In 2010, he said he believes life begins at conception, according to the Library of Congress’s archived version of his campaign website. He is against the use of federal funds for abortions.
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