Abortion rights protesters march outside the Indiana State Capitol building on July 25.
Michael Conroy/AP Photo

The Hoosier state has become an unexpected flashpoint in the national debate over abortion in recent weeks, following a 10-year-old rape victim who crossed state lines from Ohio for an abortion in Indiana — and following comments by the National Right to Life Committee’s general counsel, Indiana resident Jim Bopp, who told POLITICO that that girl should have carried her pregnancy to term.

But after state Senate Republicans unveiled their proposed bill last week, Bopp’s group announced its opposition, saying it fails to impose penalties on doctors who performed abortions.

“We have a piece of legislation that exactly no one likes,” said Mike O’Brien, an Indiana Republican operative and former legislative director for former Gov. Mitch Daniels. “So I think we’re on target.” He added: “This bill is pretty far away from what they want and will support. But the majority of the public supports exceptions and no enforcement.”

A month and a day since the Supreme Court ruled on the Dobbs decision that reversed the national right to abortion enshrined by Roe in 1973, Indiana Republicans have found themselves walking a delicate path. On one side, they face the anti-abortion rights activists they’ve sworn allegiance to in surveys. On the other side, they face a national backlash — a familiar place for them. In 2015, under then-Gov. Mike Pence, the state found itself at the center of a national firestorm after Pence signed a so-called Religious Freedom and Restoration Act, that led to some states declaring travel bans to the state as well as the NCAA and Nascar issuing statements criticizing the legislation.

Next week, Kansas voters are also expected to weigh in on abortion rights in a state ballot initiative. In Indiana, the debate is in the state legislature where the issue is currently monopolizing the agenda.

In the weeks leading up to the special session, Republican lawmakers largely kept quiet on their plans for proposed legislation. Republican state senator Kyle Walker, who represents the suburban Indianapolis city of Fishers, was the rare exception: Last week, he called for a more modest change, shortening Indiana’s current law banning abortions after 20 weeks post-fertilization to 12 to 15 weeks.