Pohutsky calls Stevens’ endorsement of Rogers a ‘betrayal’ of reproductive rights

For state Rep. Laurie Pohutsky (D-Livonia), the decision by U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens to endorse Republican Mike Rogers for U.S. Senate was a “betrayal” and “unconscionable,” a feeling shared by many Democrats — especially in terms of Rogers’ stance on abortion policy.

“You either support reproductive rights or you support Mike Rogers. You can’t do both,” she told Michigan Advance on Monday, a day after Stevens stunned her Democratic colleagues and appeared with Rogers at a Detroit church and endorsed his candidacy over that of Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed.

Pohutsky said she and Stevens represented overlapping areas before Michigan’s 2022 redistricting, and she noted in an interview that “even after we no longer had overlapping geographical areas, we would frequently run into each other at reproductive rights events.”

That makes her endorsement of Rogers “a complete reversal on her position,” Pohutsky continued.

An attempt was made by the Advance to contact Stevens for comment, but was unsuccessful. If a comment is received, this story will be updated. Her chief of staff resigned on Sunday after Stevens endorsed Rogers, and said many other staffers had also quit.

Stevens has historically been an advocate for reproductive rights in her time as a legislator. A Planned Parenthood Action Fund endorsement page from her 2020 congressional campaign called her a “champion for reproductive health care.” She received a 100% score from Reproductive Freedom For All, and an “F” rating from anti-abortion group SBA Pro-Life America. And in a competitive 2022 primary following the U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Stevens put her gender at the forefront of the race in her support of abortion rights.

But now one of those same groups, Reproductive Freedom For All, is describing Stevens’ decision as “giving cover” to Rogers, a vocally and historically anti-abortion legislator.

The group’s president and CEO, Mini Timmaraju, said in a statement criticizing Stevens “Nothing can erase Mike Rogers’ votes or make him any less dangerous to our reproductive freedom.”

Rogers was condemned by Democrats for a radio interview with conservative Christian talk radio host Bob Dutko in October in which he pointed to his “100% pro-life rating” while previously in Congress, and assured Dutko that there was no concern that he would join Democrats on social issues in the Senate, including abortion rights.

While Democratic Party leaders called it proof that Rogers would vote for a nationwide abortion ban, Rogers quickly pushed back on social media, reposting a video in which he said that when it comes to abortion, “Michigan voters have already decided the issue, and I respect that decision.”

Though Michigan enshrined reproductive rights in its state constitution in 2022, many have warned that a constitutional convention — which is a ballot measure, Proposal One, in Tuesday’s election — could open the door to reversing that.

“This is a battle that we are never going to have to stop fighting. I think that if we learned anything from the Dobbs decision, it’s that this is never going to be over,” Pohutsky said. “Just because we’ve enshrined it in our constitution, we can’t let our foot off the gas. Between Mike Rogers and Proposal 1 being on the ballot, there are existential threats to reproductive rights right now this election cycle, and I don’t think that’s going to change anytime soon.”

On Stevens supporting Rogers and supporting abortion rights, Pohutsky said, “Those two things cannot exist in the same space.”