9th District candidates stake out positions

By Lesley Stedman Weidenbener
lstedman@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal

INDIANAPOLIS — In his first TV commercial of this election season, 9th District congressional candidate Baron Hill tells voters he believes "marriage between a man and a woman is sacred."

It's a statement the Seymour Democrat and former congressman thought he needed to make after past Republican attacks that accused him of supporting same-sex marriage.

"I could support a federal law defining marriage as that of a man and a woman," Hill said. "But I don't want to use the Constitution as an instrument to ban gay marriage. That's not what the document is about."

And that's where Hill differs from his Republican opponent, U.S. Rep. Mike Sodrel, who defeated Hill in 2004.

He is co-sponsor of the proposed constitutional amendment introduced in the House.

"The only way to protect traditional marriage from court overturn is to say so in the Constitution," Sodrel said.

Same-sex marriage is among a number of hot-button social issues — including abortion and stem cell research — that could help voters decide whether to stick with Sodrel, send Hill back to Washington or pick Libertarian Eric Schansberg, who opposes same-sex marriage but said the decision should be made at the state rather than federal level.

All three candidates say they oppose abortion, yet there are significant differences.

Sodrel and Schansberg would like to see the newly reconstituted U.S. Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that made abortion legal.

But Hill worries that would lead to unsafe, back-alley abortions.

"I'm not for abortion," Hill said. "But I'm not for repealing Roe v. Wade either."

Instead, Hill supports legislation offered by U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, a member of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, and Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., a member of the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus.

Their bill aims to reduce the number of abortions in the United States by 95percent in 10 years.

The bill includes initiatives to expand access to birth control for low-income women, increase health-care funding for low-income mothers and children, give grants for creative approaches to reducing teen pregnancy and unintended pregnancy, and provide funding for day-care programs and child-care centers on college campuses.

Read more on the 9th District race at the Courier-Journal.com
Check out Baron Hill's Website at http://www.baron2006.com/