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Shirkey compares abortion to slavery; Democrats speak out

LANSING, MI (MPRN)--   Democratic lawmakers are criticizing remarks by Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey (R-Clarklake). 

Shirkey said allowing abortion is comparable to “the scourge we endured when we still had slavery in this country.”

Democratic Senator Erica Geiss (D-Taylor) is African American. She said the remarks are insensitive and out of touch.

“I don’t think comparing something that is a reproductive choice…that is really nobody’s business except between her and her physician has any place in a conversation about slavery,” Geiss said.

Amber McCann is a spokeswoman for Shirkey. She said he believes there is no middle ground on abortion.

“The comparison that he was making was to do with the impact of the issue on the country and its ability to divide people,” McCann said.

Before becoming the newest Capitol reporter for the Michigan Public Radio Network, Cheyna Roth was an attorney. She spent her days fighting it out in court as an assistant prosecuting attorney for Ionia County. Eventually, Cheyna took her investigative and interview skills and moved on to journalism. She got her masters at Michigan State University and was a documentary filmmaker, podcaster, and freelance writer before finding her home with NPR. Very soon after joining MPRN, Cheyna started covering the 2016 presidential election, chasing after Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and all their surrogates as they duked it out for Michigan. Cheyna also focuses on the Legislature and criminal justice issues for MPRN. Cheyna is obsessively curious, a passionate storyteller, and an occasional backpacker. Follow her on Twitter at @Cheyna_R