INDIANAPOLIS — Abortion opponents, particularly in conservative states, had hoped to swiftly move a brand new wave of restrictions after Roe v. Wade was overturned. However to date, most Republican lawmakers have moved cautiously or accomplished nothing in any respect, even in statehouses the place they maintain overwhelming majorities.

A debate enjoying out in Indiana this week is displaying why.

Although Republican legislators assist the broad thought of limiting abortion, they’ve clashing views on how far to go. Ought to there be an outright ban? In that case, ought to there be exceptions for rape and incest? And what if a lady’s well being is threatened by a being pregnant however medical doctors don’t imagine she’s going to die?

“These are all questions which can be actually troublesome,” mentioned State Senator Rodric Bray, an Indiana Republican whose caucus, which has lengthy labored to restrict abortions, has divided over a invoice that may ban abortion with some exceptions. Earlier than Roe was overturned this yr, Mr. Bray mentioned, lawmakers had not “spent sufficient time on these points, since you knew it was a difficulty you didn’t have to essentially get into the granular degree in. However we’re now there, and we’re recognizing that that is fairly onerous work.”

Related conversations are enjoying out throughout the nation.

In contrast to in conservative states that handed set off bans on abortion years in the past, when it remained a federal proper, Republicans weighing the problem in the present day will not be governing in hypotheticals. They’re contending with thorny questions on exceptions, nuanced disagreements inside their very own social gathering and combined public opinion throughout an election season through which abortion has grow to be a defining situation. Latest high-profile instances, like that of a 10-year-old sexual assault sufferer from Ohio who traveled to Indiana to get an abortion due to new restrictions in her residence state, have made clear the stakes of the talk.

Leaders in lots of Republican-led states appear to be biding their time. An exception has been West Virginia, the place lawmakers superior a near-total ban this week after a courtroom blocked enforcement of an 1849 abortion ban in that state.

However in Nebraska, the place an effort to move a set off ban narrowly failed early this yr, Gov. Pete Ricketts has mentioned the opportunity of a particular session however has but to name one. In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis has largely averted questions about whether or not he would take rapid steps to move new restrictions. In South Dakota, the place a ban went into impact after Roe was struck down, Gov. Kristi Noem backed away from an preliminary pledge to name lawmakers to the Capitol to contemplate extra abortion payments. And in Iowa, Gov. Kim Reynolds has mentioned she was targeted on getting the courts to permit for enforcement of current restrictions that had been blocked.

“Proper now it wouldn’t do any good to name a particular session,” Ms. Reynolds, a Republican, informed native reporters final month.

In Indiana, not less than in principle, passing an abortion ban ought to have been simple. Lawmakers there have permitted sweeping abortion restrictions in recent times. Republicans maintain giant majorities in each chambers of the Normal Meeting. And Gov. Eric Holcomb, a Republican who was as soon as Mike Pence’s lieutenant governor, mentioned on the day Roe fell that he wished legislators to contemplate new limits.

“We’ve got a possibility to make progress in defending the sanctity of life,” Mr. Holcomb mentioned then, “and that’s precisely what we’ll do.”

However in apply, getting Republicans to agree on a invoice has been full of dissent. The particular session, initially set for early July, didn’t start assembly till this week. Even earlier than they met, some Republican lawmakers voiced disagreement with their social gathering’s strategy. And when some Republicans launched laws calling for a ban on abortion with restricted exceptions, it managed to disappoint nearly everybody, not simply the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, which referred to as it a “merciless, harmful invoice,” but additionally Indiana Proper to Life, which described it as “weak and troubling.”

“This specific laws, in all probability one of the best analogy I can say is Swiss cheese — there’s so many holes,” mentioned Jodi Smith, who spoke on behalf of Indiana Proper to Life, and who famous throughout testimony earlier than lawmakers this week that a number of Senate Republicans had sought that group’s endorsement.

The present model of the invoice, which might nonetheless be altered, would outlaw abortions besides when the lifetime of a pregnant girl was discovered to be in danger, or when a lady signed an affidavit early in her being pregnant saying she was a sufferer of rape or incest.

Over two days of public testimony, nobody voiced assist for the invoice. When it got here up for a vote in a Senate committee on Tuesday, it superior narrowly, with one Republican and all of the Democrats voting towards it, and with a number of Republicans who voted in favor voicing critical issues.

Senator Ed Charbonneau, who was among the many sure votes, mentioned, “I suppose my want is that we make a nasty invoice much less unhealthy.” Senator Eric Bassler, who additionally voted to maneuver the laws ahead, mentioned, “There are numerous causes to not assist this invoice on many alternative ranges” and warned that he may vote towards it within the full Senate. Even Senator Sue Glick, the invoice’s sponsor, mentioned she was “not precisely” pleased with the measure because it went to the Senate ground, the place a vote is feasible on Friday.

“If it’s the need of the physique to kill the invoice on the ground, then so be it, however it’s a begin,” Ms. Glick mentioned.

The broad strains of the abortion debate stay properly outlined. On the Indiana Statehouse, giant teams of protesters on each side of the problem have gathered this week. Loud, competing chants of “We gained’t cease at Roe” and “My physique, my selection” echoed via the constructing’s hallways at varied factors, generally making it troublesome to listen to testimony within the listening to.

However even in a state the place Democrats have little political energy, Indiana Republican leaders discover themselves in a political bind. Some Republican legislators, and lots of the social gathering’s most outspoken supporters, need to ban abortion with few or no exceptions. However one Republican state senator, Kyle Walker, mentioned he wished abortion to stay authorized through the first trimester of being pregnant. And lots of within the social gathering have raised questions on whether or not and the way to embody exceptions for rape, incest and a pregnant girl’s well being.

“This is without doubt one of the most complicated points any of us will ever attempt to sort out in our lifetime, and this simply demonstrates the close to impossibility of threading the right needle” in a brief session, mentioned State Senator Mark Messmer, the Republican who voted towards the measure in committee.

Complicating issues at a time when many lawmakers are campaigning for re-election is uncertainty about what voters imagine about abortion. In Indiana, abortion opponents and abortion rights advocates each assert that public opinion favors their place, however not less than one current ballot suggests a extra complicated, murky image.

Throughout marathon public remark periods, a number of ladies informed lawmakers to proceed permitting entry to abortions, sharing private tales, and a number of other medical doctors spoke towards the invoice, warning that it will have dire penalties for Indiana ladies. Abortion is at present authorized in Indiana up till 22 weeks of being pregnant.

“Bans on abortion pose a risk to the well being and well-being of Indiana youth,” Dr. Mary Ott, a pediatrician, mentioned throughout her testimony. She added, “The proposed laws politicizes what ought to be a non-public resolution.”

Some anti-abortion activists spoke of a way of betrayal that lawmakers who campaigned as abortion opponents had been stopping in need of a full ban. One man mentioned, “Let’s not discover a compromise”; one other referred to as the measure “a fraud masquerading as a pro-life invoice”; and a 3rd mentioned there was no excuse to not move a extra restrictive regulation as a result of “there’s a supermajority of supposedly pro-life Republican legislators right here.”

Some hinted at electoral penalties for inaction.

“If the language of this invoice isn’t modified, harmless youngsters will die, God’s wrath will proceed to be saved up towards this state and the Republican Celebration will lose a lot of its God-fearing constituents,” Seth Leeman, the pastor of a Baptist church in Noblesville, an Indianapolis suburb, informed lawmakers.

Even amid the intraparty squabbling, it stays very doable that Indiana will enact a near-total ban on abortion throughout its particular session, which is predicted to proceed subsequent week.

Some Republicans elsewhere are additionally transferring forward. In South Carolina, a particular panel of lawmakers lately drafted a invoice that may enact one thing near a complete ban on abortion within the state, although it could possibly be months earlier than it comes up for a closing vote.

However even in conservative states the place new restrictions don’t instantly move, Republicans have time on their aspect.

In Indiana, if legislators are unable to move new restrictions within the subsequent few weeks, they may strive once more throughout a brand new legislative session in 2023, some Republicans are already suggesting. Democrats are taking them at their phrase.

“I’ve issues that if the invoice dies, that Hoosiers may assume that entry to abortion care is secure — and I need folks to know, no, it’s not secure,” mentioned State Senator Shelli Yoder, a Democrat from the faculty city of Bloomington. “What they realized from this expertise, they may come again in January, and so they gained’t fail once more.”

Richard Fausset contributed reporting.