ACLJ Demands Transparency on Abdul El-Sayed's Use of Taxpayer Resources and Abortion Industry Ties

Michigan's new Leftist Senate candidate, Abdul El-Sayed, doesn't want to be called a socialist. But his agenda tells a different story. He denies the label, insisting he's merely a progressive Democrat. Either way, he's openly embraced a hallmark of Leftism: abortion.

In fact, just earlier this month, he proudly posted on his campaign site, “Planned Parenthood Action Fund announced its endorsement of Dr. Abdul El-Sayed for U.S. Senate.”

Has Dr. El-Sayed's path crossed with Planned Parenthood before? He's no stranger to politics. He served as executive director of the Detroit Health Department and Health Officer for the City of Detroit from 2015 to 2017, ran for governor in 2018 and lost to Gretchen Whitmer, then went on to direct Wayne County's Department of Health, Human, and Veterans Services from 2023 to 2025. Leftist politicians have an uncanny knack for growing ever more radical in their abortion ideology – and for using their power as government officials to work on the industry's behalf from the inside.

The ACLJ just submitted a pair of Michigan Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to find out more about his demonstrated allegiance to the abortion industry during his time working for Wayne County and the city of Detroit.

Unsurprisingly, he doesn’t hide his support for abortion. He has assured Michiganders, “I'll work to ensure everyone can access abortion,” and has pledged to “fight to repeal the Hyde Amendment and pass the EACH Act,” “defend funding for providers like Planned Parenthood,” and “stop taxpayer dollars from going to fake clinics” – a reference to pro-life centers.

Our FOIAs demand all of his governmental digital communications, and in particular, “All records of communications or exchanges of any information between El-Sayed and (a) Planned Parenthood Detroit Health Center, Planned Parenthood Ferndale Health Center and (b) Summit Women’s Center concerning Detroit Health Department programs, funding, referrals, partnerships, or policy.”

We also demanded records of “grants, contracts, subgrants, memoranda of understanding, sponsorships, or other payments awarded, recommended, approved, or administered by El-Sayed or the Detroit Health Department to outside nonprofits, foundations, advocacy organizations, or community organizations.” Other requests include:

• All records concerning sole-source contracts, no-bid awards, emergency procurements, procurement waivers, or exceptions from ordinary competitive bidding procedures in El-Sayed’s custody or on any device or account in his custody or which El-Sayed approved.

• All records of El-Sayed’s employment, including but not limited to outside employment, paid speaking engagements, honoraria, consulting, book projects, media contracts, requests for approval and ethics advice, or other records.

• All records concerning El-Sayed’s departure from the Detroit Health Department, including resignation, transition planning, transfer of duties, retention or deletion of records, return of devices, and preservation of official emails or text messages.

We also demanded any records of things like ethics complaints or complaints concerning his conduct.

El-Sayed is clearly proud of his support for abortion and the abortion industry, and his desire to make you, the American taxpayers, pay for it. Join us as we do our part to find out just how deep his connections to the abortion industry goes. The public deserves to know.

Take action with the ACLJ. Sign our petition: Defeat the Radical Left NOW.