Tennessee's state Senate is attempting to build a monument with the inscription Tennessee Monument to Unborn Children, In Memory of the Victims of Abortion: Babies, Women, and Men. The statue will be placed on the grounds of the State Capitol.
In a vote of 23-3, the Republican led state Senate passed a bill requiring the Capital to "develop and implement a plan for the commissioning of the Tennessee Monument to Unborn Children."
The bill was sponsored by Rep. Jerry Sexton and Sen. Steve Southerland and will be funded by undisclosed non-state resources. Rep. Bill Dunn (R) likened the statue memorializing those murdered in the Holocaust, saying:
Both of these monuments that are already here recognize the atrocities occurred because human beings were treated as less than human. In both cases, the vulnerable and defenseless were subjected to the will of the powerful. The taking of life of the baby in the womb is related to this brand of inhumanity.
Dunn went on to add that the statue wasn't only for fetuses it would also honor:
...women coerced into abortions, the fathers who can't protect their unborn child, the brothers and sisters who lose a sibling and the society as a whole who becomes coarsened because life is cheapened.
This monument isn't the first memorial Tennessee has elected to place for the "victims" of abortion. In 1994 The National Memorial for the Unborn was erected in Chattanooga.
Republicans in Tennessee are trying to erect a monument “in memory of the victims of abortion” on the grounds of th… https://t.co/I1mQDSNfPU— HuffPost (@HuffPost) 1524672774.0
People had some strong reactions.
@HuffPost Maybe Republican mega-fundraiser Broidy can help pay for the unborn monument since he recently funded his… https://t.co/qqi1P1jrOB— Edward Grass (@Edward Grass) 1524674917.0
@HuffPost Tennessee where in the scheme of things https://t.co/5hjWwzTSVV an zero family leave laws - they don't ca… https://t.co/WxsyT5PiQP— Mr Smith (@Mr Smith) 1524673386.0
@HuffPost Staggering hypocrisy. Spend that money on helping children born into poverty, ignorance, incest, abuse, p… https://t.co/YZSGpHx7xo— Nancy Rant (@Nancy Rant) 1524674067.0
@HuffPost How about a monument for the over 320,000 victims of rape PER YEAR. It’ll have to be a monument that can… https://t.co/VzL4AKFCNk— Butthatsjustme (@Butthatsjustme) 1524674643.0
This suggestions was given for Planned Parenthood.
Or perhaps this suggestion.
@HuffPost A better statue would be showing a man with his zipper up!— miss otis (@miss otis) 1524682151.0
Many were concerned about the money being spent.
Republicans in Tennessee are trying to erect a monument “in memory of the victims of abortion” on the grounds of th… https://t.co/I1mQDSNfPU— HuffPost (@HuffPost) 1524672774.0
@HuffPost Because why spend money on the living?— Paul McAvoy (@Paul McAvoy) 1524679271.0
Unfortunately this tweet is true.
No, this isn't an article from The Onion. https://t.co/445jF5sEpK— Alanna Vagianos (@Alanna Vagianos) 1524669621.0
H/T: Huffington Post