A newly passed bill permits an anti-abortion monument in the Arkansas Capitol

Little Rock, Arkansas – A new statute that would permit a monument marking the number of abortions carried out in Arkansas before the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated Roe v. Wade has been approved by Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

The Republican governor approved the legislation that will allow the construction of a privately funded “monument to the unborn” on the grounds of the Capitol, according to Sanders’ office on Friday night. The bill, which was approved by MPs last week, mandates that the secretary of state authorize and coordinate the monument’s installation.

Additionally, it mandates that the Capitol Arts and Grounds Committee supervise the choice of the artist and the monument’s design with input from pro-life organizations.

When the 1973 Roe ruling was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, Arkansas’ 2019 abortion restriction law became effective. According to Arkansas law, abortions are only permitted when the mother’s life is in danger.

Legislation enabling a comparable privately sponsored memorial on Tennessee’s Capitol grounds was authorized by state lawmakers in 2018. The memorial is not yet up and running.

Republicans who opposed abortion who claimed it was futile and Democrats who claimed the memorial plan was divisive both opposed Arkansas’ proposal.

A sculpture representing the nine African students that integrated Little Rock Central High School is one of the additional memorials on the grounds of the state Capitol. On the grounds of the Capitol, a monument to the Ten Commandments was erected in 2018.