The Arkansas state legislator proposing the monument, to be built on government property, called the “holcaust” during Roe v. Wade.
A “monument to the unborn” may soon be coming to the Arkansas state Capitol.
On Tuesday, the Republican-led Arkansas state legislature approved a bill that would create funding to build “a fitting monument on the grounds of the state Capitol in memory of the unborn children who were aborted in era of Roe v. Wade.” The bill now heads to Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the anti-abortion former press secretary of former President Donald Trump.
“This is a holocaust in this country,” said the bill’s sponsor, Republican Rep. Mary Bentley, according to a local NPR affiliate. “And we forget how important human life is. And life won.”
He also compared the future monument to memorials to firefighters, World War II veterans, and the Little Rock Nine, according to Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
However, not all Republicans are so gung-ho about the monument. Rep. Steve Unger is anti-abortion, but compared it to “funny,” according to the NPR affiliate.
“From a Christian perspective, it has the look and feel of spiking a football,” Unger said.
Almost all abortions are currently prohibited in Arkansas, with no exceptions for rape or incest. In a national study of children’s well-being, Arkansas ranks 43rd out of all 50 states, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundationwhich examined indicators such as birth weight, children’s mental health, the number of children living in poverty.
The monument will be paid for by private donations, while its design will be overseen by the Capitol Arts and Grounds Commission—with some input from local anti-abortion groups. In the event the state is sued over the monument—which could raise questions about the separation of church and state—the bill also gives the Arkansas attorney general the ability to mount a defense against it.
“You can ask the slaves what happens when we forget. We need to remember slavery in America so it doesn’t come back,” said Republican Rep. Cindy Crawford according to the Arkansas Times. “We need to remember abortion in Arkansas so it doesn’t come back. There is no reason why we cannot have a monument. It’s not a poke in the eye; it’s a ‘God forgive us for what we’ve done.’”
In 2021, Crawford was one of seven members of the state House to vote against eliminating the holiday in Arkansas known as Confederate Flag Day. (The bill passed the House but died in a Senate committee.) In 2020, there is 39 Confederate monuments in Arkansas. Only four were removed.
Source: https://www.vice.com/en/article/g5yx47/arkansas-republicans-monument-to-unborn-children
