Sanders Signs Bill to Build Monument to Babies Aborted Under Roe v. Wade
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) signed a bill into law late last week authorizing the building of a monument on State Capitol grounds to babies aborted during the era of Roe v. Wade, ABC News reported.
The “Monument to Unborn Children Display Act” creates a private fund to cover the cost of the monument, and the Capitol Arts and Grounds Commission will oversee the design of the monument, with the secretary of state having final say over the monument’s design and placement.
The bill, also called Senate Bill 307, details how Arkansas, which now fully bans abortion except to save the life of the mother, was “prevented from protecting the life of unborn children” because of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision, which declared a constitutional “right” to abortion.
“During the period from 1973 to 2022, approximately at least 236,243 elective abortions were performed in this State,” the bill reads.
It continues:
As a memorial to the lives lost from 1973 to 2022 due to the decisions of the United States Supreme Court, and as a constant reminder of our duty to protect the life of every innocent human person, no matter how young or old, or how helpless and vulnerable that person may be, it is the intent of the General Assembly of the State of Arkansas to enact the Monument to Unborn Children Display Act and the Monument to Unborn Children Display Fund.
One of the bill’s sponsors, Arkansas State Rep. Mary Bentley (R), previously said the legislation would allow the state to raise private money for a memorial to “remember those children we were not able to protect and we will not be able to forget,” according to the Associated Press.
“Every single year after Roe was set in 1973, we’ve had a March for Life here because we did not forget,” Bentley said.
Holly Dickson, executive director of the ACLU of Arkansas, bemoaned the bill’s passing, calling the building of a pro-life monument a “performative political stunt.”
Dickson said in a statement to ABC News:
Arkansas is ranked as one of the worst states in the nation for overall child well-being, maternal health, and the life expectancy among adults, yet the legislature has enacted dangerous limits and bans on reproductive healthcare. Lawmakers should be working to protect Arkansans with real solutions instead of this type of performative political stunt.
