All five local candidates claimed to be pro-life at Tuesday's panel discussion but nearly all of them defined pro-life in a different way.

State senate candidate John Broden, state legislature candidate James Ehrhard and state legislature candidate Mike Dvorak each said they opposed abortion, euthanasia and the death penalty.

"Every single vote I have made in the legislature has been pro-life and every single vote I have made has been anti-death penalty," Dvorak said.

House of Representatives candidate Chris Chocola said he supported the death penalty but wanted to ban abortion and euthanasia. State legislature candidate Tony Zirkle, who is running against Dvorak and said he had the endorsement of Indiana Right to Life, supports the death penalty, abortion in some circumstances but opposes euthanasia.

Chocola acknowledged the apparent contradiction in supporting the death penalty and opposing abortion.

"If you create a life you need to be responsible for it, but if you take a life you have to be responsible for it," said the republican challenger for Tim Roemer's seat in the House.

Ehrhard proposed setting up a system that "encouraged adoption" as opposed to abortion.

"If we can give women in a crisis pregnancy an [adoption] option they are comfortable with, then we have done our jobs," the republican said.

Zirkle said that abortions should only be legal if the life of the mother is in danger or in cases of rape or incest. Abortions related to rape, however, should be preformed immediately not six months into the pregnancy, he said.

While he supports the death penalty, Zirkle also said the current system is seriously flawed. He said that the death penalty is just because it is mandated in the Bible, but also said that only when evidence is 100 percent certain should the state use capital punishment. He said there should be at least two or three eyewitnesses and 72 judges who must vote unanimously for a man to be put to death. This would make capital punishment extremely rare.

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