(Headline USA) Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has signed a new law that will create a monument for the victims of abortion in Arkansas before the overturning of Roe v. Wade, on Arkansas’ Capitol grounds.
Sanders’ office said Friday night that the Republican governor signed the bill that will allow the creation of a privately funded “monument to the unborn” on the Capitol grounds.
The bill, approved by lawmakers last week, requires the secretary of state to permit and arrange the placement of the monument.
It also requires the Capitol Arts and Grounds Commission to oversee the selection of the artist and the design of the monument, with input from pro-life groups.
A law Arkansas approved in 2019 banning nearly all abortions took effect last year when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the 1973 Roe decision.
Arkansas’ ban only allows abortions to save the life of the mother in a medical emergency.
Tennessee lawmakers approved legislation in 2018 allowing a similar privately funded monument on its Capitol grounds.
Arkansas’ proposal faced opposition from some RINOs who said it was counterproductive and Democrats who said the monument proposal was divisive.
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press