October 6, 2026
Look for Students for Life Activists Outside the October 8 Debate for Michigan U.S. Senate Candidates Mike Rogers and Abdul El-Sayed
“Candidates asking Americans for their votes should expect questions about where they stand on abortion. Students for Life activists are showing up to make sure the lives of preborn children and the needs of their mothers remain part of the public conversation,” said Students for Life Action Vice President Lane Koch. “Lives are on the line, and we vote pro-life first.”
FOR INTERVIEWS, EMAIL: [email protected].
MEDIA NOTE: Students for Life representatives and student activists will be available for interviews surrounding the October 8 Rogers-El-Sayed debate in Grand Rapids.
Contact [email protected]g for interviews and additional event details.
GRAND RAPIDS, M.I. (10-6-2026) – Students for Life Action (SFLAction) will mobilize in Grand Rapids on Thursday, October 8 at 7PM, as Republican Mike Rogers and Democrat Abdul El-Sayed meet for a major U.S. Senate debate. SFLAction Vice President Lane Koch noted that the Michigan race carries major consequences for the preborn, observing: “The next Senator from Michigan will cast votes affecting federal abortion policy, taxpayer funding, chemical abortion pills, judicial nominees, and protections for preborn children. That is why we are showing up to ensure that the human rights issue of our day – abortion – is front and center in the debate.”
The candidates are scheduled to meet at WOOD TV8 in Grand Rapids for a one-hour debate beginning at 7 p.m. ET. The statewide broadcast will give Michigan voters an opportunity to hear directly from the two candidates seeking the open U.S. Senate seat. Students for Life students and activists will protest outside the debate to ensure abortion is part of the conversation as Michigan voters decide who will represent them in Washington, D.C.
El-SAYED’S TERRIBLE VIEWS ON ABORTION SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES:
El-Sayed wants Roe restored nationwide. He says he would codify the abortion protections formerly provided by Roe v. Wade into federal law.
He’s firmly aligned with Planned Parenthood. The Planned Parenthood Action Fund endorsed him, citing his record of supporting expanded access to abortion and related services.
He treats the preborn child as secondary, describing abortion restrictions as reducing a mother to a “carrying vehicle for a fetus that has not ever breathed air.”
His rhetoric dehumanizes both mother and child. He describes pregnant women as an “adult, or sometimes even a juvenile human,” while referring to the preborn child as a fetus.
He would expand, not merely preserve, abortion access. Major abortion-rights organizations backing him explicitly describe their objective as protecting and expanding abortion access and view El-Sayed as an ally toward that goal.
THE PRO-LIFE GENERATION IS ALREADY ON THE GROUND IN MICHIGAN
The October 8 demonstration continues our broader grassroots work in Michigan. Students for Life’s Get Out the Pro-Life Vote Billboard Truck Tour has included Michigan stops at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, Wayne State University, Grand Rapids, and Grand Valley State University, along with church flyering in Grand Rapids.
MICHIGAN HAS LONG BEEN A BATTLEGROUND FOR LIFE
In 2022, SFLAction partnered with Michigan State Rep. Steve Carra on an SFLAction-inspired “Protection at Conception Act,” a legislative effort designed to protect preborn children and address chemical abortion pills.
That same election cycle, Students for Life reached more than 40,000 Michigan voters through phone calls and text messages in support of pro-life candidates during the state’s primary elections.
When Proposal 3 sought to enshrine abortion in Michigan’s constitution in 2022, SFLAction opposed the constitutional amendment as part of our work to protect preborn children in the state.
Students for Life has also fought in the courts. During litigation over Michigan’s pre-Roe abortion law, SFLAction filed two amicus briefs challenging efforts by Planned Parenthood and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to keep the state’s pro-life law from taking effect.
LEARN MORE ABOUT EL-SAYED’S VIEWS HERE: El-Sayed and the Democrats Are Embracing Faith — As Long as It’s Not Biblical Christianity
AND HERE: Democratic Socialists of America’s Extreme Abortion Agenda
FOR MORE ON THE BILLBOARD TRUCK TOUR EFFORTS, CLICK HERE.
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The Pro-Life Generation (PLG) is an umbrella organization encompassing cutting-edge engagement opportunities for a Vote Pro-Life First community. PLG includes Students for Life Action (SFLAction), a 501(c)(4), and its 501(c)(3) sister organization, Students for Life of America (SFLA). Together, they make up the nation’s largest pro-life youth organization, managing grassroots political and policy operations that engage Americans of all ages, with special emphasis on the largest segment of voters: the Youth Vote. Headquartered in Fredericksburg, Virginia, PLG, SFLA, and SFLAction serve more than 1,400 groups on middle school, high school, college, medical school, and law school campuses nationwide. Our team has more conversations with the generation targeted by the abortion lobby than any other pro-life operation in the world, reaching more than 4 million people across social media platforms each week and averaging 1.3 million video views. In addition to SFLA and SFLAction, PLG leads multiple initiatives that serve the future of the pro-life movement, including the Campaign for Abortion Free Cities, Standing With You, and the Demetree Institute for Pro-Life Advancement. Over more than 17 years, PLG CEO Kristan Hawkins has grown the operation into a nearly $20 million organization that is now preparing for an abortion-free America.