The US state of Arkansas will erect ‘a monument to the unborn’ in the grounds of the State Capitol.
It will recognise terminations performed in Arkansas before the Roe v. Wade abortion rights ruling was overturned.
A state law banning nearly all abortions took effect last year.
Lawmakers overwhelmingly approved the monument legislation which was signed off by Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
It would be privately funded through gifts, grants, and donations from individuals and organisations, but maintained by taxpayer funds.
The sponsor of the bill said it will “remember those children the state couldn’t protect or forget.”
The Associated Press reports that despite a super majority of state Republicans identifying as pro-life, not all of them supported the monument.
One of the Republican opponents said that from his Christian perspective it looked like gloating.
He said: “Public memorials to our nation’s wars where we face an external threat are right and proper. A memorial to an ongoing culture war where we seem to be shooting at each other, is not.”
Another Republican opponent warned it could “have an unintended effect on the pro-life cause. It will serve as a poke in the eye to all those who don’t share our beliefs.”
Monuments already on the Capitol grounds include the Ten Commandments and statues honouring the Little Rock Nine, the first Black students to enter Little Rock Central High School under a landmark ruling.
Tennessee lawmakers have also approved a privately funded monument to the unborn that’s yet to be installed in its Capitol grounds.
