The GOP Wants to Build a ‘Monument to Unborn Children’

A “monument to unborn children” may soon be coming to the Arkansas state Capitol.

On Tuesday, the Republican-dominated Arkansas state legislature approved a bill that would create a fund to build “suitable monument on the state Capitol grounds commemorating unborn children aborted during the era of Roe v. Wade.” The bill is now headed to Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the anti-abortion former press secretary for ex-President Donald Trump.

“It was a holocaust in this nation,” said the bill’s sponsor, Republican Rep. Mary Bentley, according to a local NPR affiliate. “And we forgot how precious human life is. And life won.”

She also compared the future monument to memorials to firefighters, World War II veterans, and the Little Rock Nine, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

However, not every Republican was so gung-ho about the monument. Rep. Steve Unger is anti-abortion, but compared it to “gloating,” according to the NPR affiliate.

“From a Christian perspective, this has the look and feel of spiking the football,” Unger said.

Almost all abortions are currently banned in Arkansas, with no exceptions for rape or incest. In a national study of children’s well-being, Arkansas also came in 43rd place out of all 50 states, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, which examined indicators like birth weight, children’s mental health, the number of children living in poverty.

The monument would be paid for by private donations, while its design would be overseen by the Capitol Arts and Grounds Commission—with some input from local anti-abortion groups. In case the state is sued over the monument—which may raise questions about the separation of church and state—the bill also hands the Arkansas attorney general the ability to mount a defense of it.

“You can ask slaves what happens when we forget. We have to remember slavery in America so it won’t come back,” said Republican Rep. Cindy Crawford, according to the Arkansas Times. “We have to remember abortion in Arkansas so it won’t come back. There’s no reason why we can’t have a monument. It’s not a poke in the eye; it’s a ‘God forgive us for what we have done.’”

In 2021, Crawford was one of just seven state House members who voted against abolishing the Arkansas holiday known as Confederate Flag Day. (The bill passed the House but died in a Senate committee.) As of 2020, there were 39 Confederate monuments in Arkansas. Only four had been removed.

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