Editor's note: This story was re-posted to include a missing portion.

 In a rare political fissure, an Indiana group is making abortion a campaign issue against numerous conservative state lawmakers.

Two of those state lawmakers are speaking out against a group that is attacking them and others for not supporting a proposal that would completely ban abortions in Indiana.

The northeast Indiana group Hoosiers For Life, has begun attacking a handful of Republican lawmakers including Reps. Dave Wolkins and Tim Wesco, over their lack of support for the “Protection at Conception” legislation authored by another area legislator, Curt Nisly

Nisly, whose District  22 includes parts of Kosciusko and Elkhart counties, has authored the Protection at Conception bill twice in two years, only to see it quickly shelved by Republican leaders without any meaningful votes.

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According to the General Assembly website, the bill also lacks any co-sponsors or co-authors.

Nisly’s bill would ban all abortions, and  is widely viewed as unconstitutional by many social conservatives. Similar legislation in other states has been rejected through court appeals

Hoosiers For Life has identified lawmakers who have chosen not to fill out the group’s survey or have spoken against the  bill.

The group has been on the offensive for several months and appears to be revving up its campaign with the Indiana primary just four weeks away.

Wolkins said it appears to be a coordinated effort.

“They decided when none of us jumped on board House Bill 1097, they decided that we were all going to have primary opponents,” Wolkins said.

Wolkins said he has never seen such a move in his 30 years in the General Assembly.

“All of us are philosophically on the same side, but it’s splitting the pro-life group,” Wolkins said.

Hoosiers For Life has been in existence for several years.

In January, after Nisly’s bill had been filed, Amy Schlichter, executive director of Hoosiers For Life, penned a blog on the group’s website arguing that Wesco was “taking the same position on HB 1097 as Planned Parenthood and their leftist buddies.”

The campaign’s attacks have stepped up recently through a Facebook page, Exposing Indiana Politicians, which appears to be closely affiliated with Hoosiers For Life.

The page attacked Wesco and Wolkins, a Warsaw Republican who represents District 18. Other northern Indiana lawmakers unders scrutiny on the Facebook page include State Rep. Jack Jordan of District 17, State Sen. Travis Holdman of District 19 and Rep. Ben Smaltz of District 52.

Wolkins, Smaltz, Holdman and Jordan all face primary opponents, which is somewhat rare for many Republican lawmakers in northern Indiana.

The page is critical of Wolkins for his lack of support for Nisly’s bill and also for his support of a gas tax two years ago.

The page also assails Nisly’s primary opponent, Kimberly Cates, a Kosciusko County Council member who lives in Syracuse.

Cates – also pro-life – was attacked for choosing to run against Nisly, who they describe as “the most pro-life Representative in the State.”

On his own Facebook, Wesco urged friends and those who care about the pro-life cause to reject the “divisive and deceptive” tactics of Hoosiers For Life.



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In a blog post, Wesco said trying to pass a bill such as Nisly’s is pointless because it would be blocked in the court system.

The outcome would be inevitable under the existing “leftwing federal judiciary” and the Supreme Court precedent of Roe v. Wade, Wesco wrote.

Nisly’s law would not save a single life. “To say otherwise is a boldface lie,” Wesco wrote.

Instead, he advocates for “a disciplined, steady and judicious advance” to see the end of abortion in the country.

“It pains me greatly that ‘Hoosiers For Life’ and Amy Schlichter have turned friend against friend and ally against ally in our pro-life movement. She and her followers have viciously attacked me and other sincere pro-life legislators for refusing to kneel to her lies,” Wesco wrote in his blog.

Nisly declined to comment on actions by Hoosiers For Life. He said he’s been focused on his re-election campaign and is not familiar with what the group is doing.

“I think we’ve already changed the conversation and are making progress,” Nisly said. “Just filing the bill has opened eyes to what the possibilities are.”

He added, “I believe someday, we can follow the scientific evidence that life actually indeed begins at conception and put an end to the practice of killing babies in Indiana,” he said

Wolkins posted a reply to Hoosiers For Life on their Facebook page, defending his pro-life record and noting that Indiana Right To Life did not support Nisly’s bill.

He said he believes actions by Hoosiers For Life are doing the pro-life movement a disservice.

Wolkins said an effort to pass a bill that would challenge Roe v. Wade will only lead to large legal bills for the state.

Wolkins dislikes the notion that Hoosiers For Life is blaming Wesco for the bill’s demise. He said about 60 lawmakers who are pro-life agreed to oppose the bill.

He thinks it comes down to a matter of timing and that with President Donald Trump in the White House, the time will come soon to take action.

“At such time as Trump makes another appointment to the Supreme Court, then go for it. There will be lots of states that will go for it,” Wolkins said.

Cates said she is saddened to see the infighting.

In addition to online posts, she said she and her family have received threatening messages via phone and nasty texts, as well as posts on her Facebook page that are laced with “nasty”?language.

She said she’s not surprised the group has come out against her.

She said the campaign is attempting to discredit pro-life lawmakers while at the same time “make themselves out as the martyr and the champion” of the cause.

Wolkins is being challenged by Russ Reahard, a pastor from North Manchester who said he supports Nisly’s bill.

Reahard said abortion is his top priority and that he’s not worried about party in-fighting.

He said it’s time to challenge Roe v. Wade.

“We might have to fight in the courts, but we’ve got the truth on our side. We’ve got biology on our side and all the medical colleges,” Reahard said.  “We need to stand up and protect life beginning at conception.”

Hoosiers For Life did not returned a phone message seeking comment Friday afternoon.