LANSING (Great Lakes News) – Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey (R-ClarkLake) made a surprising comparison between abortions and American slavery during a radio interview.

“I believe the rampant acceptance of unfiltered and unregulated abortion, or frankly allowing abortions to occur at all, is the scourge of our country,” Shirkey said on the college radio station Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM. “In my mind, and people are going to be very upset when I say this, it’s comparable to the scourge that we endured when we still had slavery in this country. It’s no less a scourge today than slavery was then.”

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Shirkey spoke against the omnibus bills introduced in the House and Senate that would drastically expand access to abortions in Michigan. Governor Gretchen Whitmer and several female lawmakers introduced the bills in a press conference last week. The bills, in the Michigan House as HB 5179 and the Michigan Senate as SB 0622 , reverse many laws implemented by the legislature in addition to nullifying attempts to gather signatures making “ dismemberment abortions ” illegal.

“What these bills will do is reverse all of the protections for life that we have instilled in out statues in Michigan over the last few years,” Shirkey said. “These are the things that we fight and fight and fight for that can be lost in one election cycle if voters are not prudent.”

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Shirkey has a history of voting in support of pro-life legislation that goes back to his time as a member of the Michigan House. In 2012, Shirkey voted in support of bills making partial birth and late-term abortions illegal and has continued a fairly consistent pro-life voting record since. His previous statements, however, have lacked quite as stark of an analogy as American slavery.

“I’m not apologizing anymore on this particular topic, it is a serious problem,” Shirkey said. “And even thinking about living in a country where we would allow babies to be dismembered as they are born, it’s unthinkable and something I can’t imagine a sane person would support.”

In a plea to voters, Shirkey promised that if they retain Republican control of the House and Senate he will continue to prevent such legislation from being passed.

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“As long as I am in the Senate, and as long as I serve as Senate Majority Leader, these kinds of bills will never see the day of light (sic).”