Mike Rogers wants voters to forget his record of backing abortion bans
In the House, the Michigan Republican Senate nominee co-sponsored bills that would have said life begins at conception and effectively prohibited medication abortion.
During his 14 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, Michigan Republican Mike Rogers repeatedly pushed to ban abortion nationwide. Now, as he runs for election to the seat of retiring U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, Rogers is telling voters that he will protect reproductive rights.
Rogers will face Democratic U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin in the November election. Slotkin is a co-sponsor of the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would restore the right to abortion that had been protected until Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, and has been endorsed by the organizations Reproductive Freedom for All and Planned Parenthood Action Fund. “There is no issue that motivates me more than this issue of choice, because they haven’t stopped and they will not stop until we stop them,” Slotkin told voters in May.
In a campaign ad called “The Truth” released Sept. 11, Rogers holds hands with his wife Kristi and tells viewers: “I know that a decision about a pregnancy is one of the most difficult and personal decisions a woman will make. Michigan voters have already decided the issue, and I respect that decision. In the Senate, I won’t do anything to change it.”
In 2022, Michigan voters approved a state constitutional amendment by a margin of 57%-43%, codifying reproductive freedom, including the right to abortion and to contraception. Rogers was a Florida resident at the time, but said during a March 2023 discussion on Michigan Public Television’s “Off the Record” that he was unfamiliar with the ballot proposition’s wording, but would probably not have voted for it. He falsely claimed it allowed abortion “right up to the day of birth,” and said, “I’m a pro-life guy, I’ve voted pro-life, and I don’t walk away from that.”
During a May 2023 town hall in New Hampshire, as a potential presidential candidate, Rogers was asked about his abortion position. “I’ve been a pro-life candidate my entire career,” he answered, saying, “In my argument, the states are the best place to handle those conversations.” Asked if he’d veto a national ban if he was in the White House, he replied, “I’d have to look at it.”
Rogers served in the U.S. House from 2001 to 2015, where he routinely opposed reproductive rights 100% of the time, according to scorecards issued by the group NARAL Pro-Choice America, now known as Reproductive Freedom for All.
During his 2000 campaign, Rogers said on a candidate questionnaire that he backed a constitutional amendment to ban abortion and give legal rights to fetuses from the moment of conception, according to an August 2024 Jezebel report.
“I believe that federal and state governments were established to protect our lives and the lives of the unborn. I believe abortions should be legal only to prevent the death of the mother,” he told the Associated Press in 2010.
Rogers co-sponsored the Life at Conception Act and other proposals intended to give full legal rights to embryos and fetuses; had they become law, experts say, they could have been used to prohibit in vitro fertilization. He also voted for a 20-week national abortion ban in 2013.
In 2003 and again in 2005, Rogers co-sponsored legislation to require withdrawal of the Food and Drug Administration’s September 2000 approval of mifepristone, a drug used for medication abortions. He endorsed the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, which overturned Roe.
Contrary to Rogers’ suggestion that the amendment to Michigan’s Constitution makes abortion a settled issue, should Republican Donald Trump win in November, his allies have proposed using existing law to criminalize abortion nationwide in their “Project 2025” blueprint. During his Sept. 10 debate against Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump repeatedly refused to say he would veto a national ban.
While abortion is legal in Michigan, neighboring states have adopted tougher restrictions. Indiana enacted a near-total ban on the procedure in 2023. As a result, Michigan has seen an influx of out-of-state patients seeking abortions, overwhelming providers.
“People have developed a false sense of security because abortion is legal in Michigan, but we’re not safe. Since the Dobbs ruling, the number of out-of-state patients we’ve cared for has tripled, causing delays in care for Michiganders,” Planned Parenthood of Michigan chief medical officer Dr. Sarah Wallett said in a June statement. “These unsustainable conditions will only worsen if we don’t take action to ensure everyone can access the care they need in the communities they call home.”
