And abortion-rights lawmakers are casting anti-abortion votes - votes that may make them vulnerable every time an abortion vote comes up.

All of the Republicans who could take Democratic seats on Tuesday would bolster the conservatives' edge and provide reliable anti-abortion votes.

Politicians have grown accustomed to the power of the anti-abortion vote.

State Republicans had been content to fudge the abortion issue as it rose to national pitch throughout the 1980's, professing open-mindedness while tacitly courting the anti-abortion vote.

Democrats are also poised to run against his anti-abortion votes and his votes against gun control.

Even on the polarizing social issue of abortion, Mr. McCain constantly points to his anti-abortion votes in Congress.

Yet Mr. Schundler already has the single-issue anti-abortion vote.

Any Republican gains in the Senate would fuel momentum for conservatives to provide dependable anti-abortion votes.

But he and other leaders acknowledged that the loss of a Republican majority in the Senate, which included the defeat of some reliable anti-abortion votes, was a setback.

The change in the Senate is not just about the increase in the number of anti-abortion votes, which may amount to only a handful.