By CHARLES WILSON,Associated Press Writer
INDIANAPOLIS — Abortion opponents and Republicans turned up the pressure Tuesday on three Indiana Democrats in the House whose votes are pivotal to a climactic showdown on health care, saying the bill doesn't do enough to prevent taxpayer funding for the procedure.
Expected Senate candidate Brad Ellsworth said in a statement that he hasn't decided how he's going to vote, but that he won't support a bill he thinks would result in federal funding for abortions.
"I am looking carefully at the current language in the bill to ensure it meets my pro-life principles, and I will continue to work to ensure pro-life concerns are addressed," Ellsworth said.
But the National Republican Senatorial Committee issued a statement hammering Ellsworth, who has received a 100 percent rating from National Right to Life for his voting record on abortion this term, for his "wait and see position."
Ellsworth also is one of the targets of a $1.3 million ad campaign urging key House Democrats to support President Barack Obama's health care plan. And Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels sent a letter to Indiana congressmen Tuesday asking them to vote against the bill.
Meanwhile, the anti-abortion group Americans United for Life targeted Congressmen Joe Donnelly and Baron Hill in full-page newspaper ads appearing in their districts this week.
The ads show two hands holding up a baby under the caption, "Congressman ... When it comes to voting for health reform, we know you have your hands full."
At issue are differences in the language on abortion in the House and Senate versions of the health care bill passed in November. Some anti-abortion groups believe the provisions in the Senate version that the House is expected to vote on as early as this week are a backdoor taxpayer subsidy for abortion.
Donnelly said in a statement Tuesday that while he favors health insurance reform, he was leaning toward voting against the bill, in part because "the Senate version of health care reform does not meet my standards for assuring that no federal funds are used for abortion-related services."
Hill, however, read the bill differently.
"I have been an ardent proponent of prohibiting any federal funding of abortion services throughout my congressional tenure," he said in a statement. "The language regarding this issue in both the House and Senate health care reform bills accomplishes that same goal — no taxpayer funds can be used to pay for elective abortions."
However, Hill said the exact legislative text had not been released and he remained undecided.
All three congressmen voted last year in favor of a House amendment that bars federal funding from going to any insurance plan that includes abortion coverage.
Former Democratic Indiana House Speaker John Gregg said all three congressmen were under pressure in Washington and at home, as Obama courts their vote while they face potentially tough races in a conservative state.
Gregg said he believed Ellsworth, who is seeking his party's nomination for the Senate seat being vacated by Evan Bayh, can withstand the political fire over health care as long as he sticks to his principles, however he votes.
"If he votes his conscience and defends it, whatever it is, he'll be fine," Gregg said.
