Mike Rogers’ support for ‘fetal personhood’ could threaten access to IVF and contraception

Michigan Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers has said that he thinks the issue of abortion should be handled by the states. He says on his campaign website that he supports keeping fertility treatments such as in vitro fertilization (IVF) legal and accessible.

However, while serving in Congress from 2001 to 2015, Rogers voted consistently for laws that would interfere with the bodily autonomy of his constituents, including so-called “fetal personhood” laws.

Rogers is running for the open Senate seat of retiring Sen. Debbie Stabenow against Democratic U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin in the Nov. 5 general election. 

In 2003, Rogers co-sponsored legislation that would have withdrawn federal approval of the abortion drug mifepristone. He co-sponsored it again in 2005. 

In 2012, Rogers voted for a national abortion ban, and in 2013 he co-sponsored a bill that would have made abortion illegal in all 50 states. 

In 2013, Roger co-sponsored the “Life at Conception Act,” which if enacted would restrict access to IVF and birth control methods such as intrauterine devices (IUDs) or emergency contraception such as Plan B. The bill would “implement equal protection under the 14th article of amendment to the Constitution for the right to life of each born and preborn human person”. 

If laws defining personhood as legally accruing to zygotes from the moment of fertilization are enacted, embryos or fertilized eggs created through IVF will be considered unborn children, and intentionally destroying or disposing of them will be considered murder. Those who support fetal personhood legislation say that life begins at fertilization and even contraception or emergency contraception will place that life in danger. 

“Assuming you’re interpreting personhood the way American abortion opponents do, either you can be for IVF or you can be for fetal personhood, but you can’t be for both,” Mary Ziegler, a reproductive rights historian and law professor at the University of California Davis told the Michigan Independent. “So either they’re lying about the IVF part or they’re lying about the fetal personhood part.” 

In 2022, voters in Michigan approved an amendment to the state constitution that affirmed the right to abortion without restrictions on gestational age. Rogers, who was living in Florida at the time, said during a March 2023 interview with the WKAR television show “Off the Record” that while he was not familiar with the text of the measure, he probably would not have voted for it. He said, “I’m a pro-life guy, I’ve voted pro-life, and I don’t walk away from that.”

“Mike Rogers can’t hide from his extensive record backing abortion bans which would rip away Michiganders’ freedom to make their own personal medical decisions,” Michigan Democratic Party spokesperson Sam Chan said in a statement posted on Sept. 17. “It’s clear that Rogers will say and do anything to benefit himself, and Michigan families can’t trust him to represent us.”