INDIANAPOLIS —If it's possible for a key issue to exist at this stage in the 2012 governor's race, it could whether Planned Parenthood should receive any government dollars.
The expected Republican candidate, U.S. Rep. Mike Pence, has made defunding the organization that provides women's health services — including, at some locations, abortions — his public focus in recent months.
And former Indiana House Speaker John Gregg, the man who is growing more likely to become his Democratic opponent, is talking about it too.
"The problem in America isn't Planned Parenthood. It's unplanned parenthood," Gregg said at the Washington Township Democratic Club in Indianapolis last week, according to Howey Politics Indiana.
Gregg is all but an official candidate. The Sandborn native has crossed Indiana to attend Democratic events in recent weeks. He told the audience last Wednesday night that he plans to announce in May that he will form an exploratory committee for the 2012 governor's race.
He is anti-abortion, but said the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion is the law of the land, and that Planned Parenthood provides the kind of care that saved him from cancer seven years ago.
"Frankly," he said, "I'm insulted they want to take away preventive health care from people. That's just not right. We don't do that. These are for people who can't afford to go anywhere else."
That's a dramatic departure from Pence's message. During an April 14 House floor speech, he referred to Planned Parenthood as "Big Abortion."
"It is morally wrong to take the taxpayer dollars of millions of pro-life Americans and use them to subsidize the largest abortion provider in America," said Pence, of Columbus.
Pence and other U.S. House Republicans pushed to include the defunding of Planned Parenthood in a recent budget deal, but were ultimately unsuccessful.
In Indiana, state Senate Republicans approved a measure that would stop $3 million in government dollars from reaching the organization, and would block Medicaid recipients from using Planned Parenthood clinics such as the one in Evansville.
However, House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, has expressed concern that the Planned Parenthood provisions could weigh down a measure that takes other steps to limit abortions.
That issue will be sorted out soon, as the legislative session is legally required to end Friday.
Daniels' future
Once this year's legislative session wraps up, all eyes will turn to Gov. Mitch Daniels.
He has said repeatedly that his decision on whether to run for president will come after a session in which he is on course to get the entire education reform package he has advocated is wrapped up.
A key date to mark on the calendar is May 4. That's when the Republican will deliver a speech on education at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington.
Another date to note: May 12. But it's not Mitch Daniels who will be the focus then. It's his wife, Cheri Daniels. She'll keynote the Indiana Republican Party's annual spring dinner — an important event, since her reticence is often cited as a potential barrier to a White House run.
National Democrats are sharpening their swords in case Daniels does jump in. They'd likely immediately focus on the one-year, 1 percent income tax hike for those earning more than $100,000 per year that Daniels proposed in 2005.
That, Democrats are saying, sounds similar to President Barack Obama's call for George W. Bush-era tax cuts for those earning more than $250,000 per year to lapse.