Representative Dean Fisher filed a bill on Tuesday to provide for an abortion victims monument on the Capitol complex grounds. Representatives Thomas Gerhold, Skyler Wheeler and Sandy Salmon signed on as cosponsors.
House File 153 requires the Department of Administrative Services, in consultation with the Capitol Planning Commission, to authorize the placement of an abortion victims monument on the Capitol complex grounds. The department is required to solicit, and approve, an application for the monument.
“I believe that it is fitting that we memorialize the countless victims of abortion,” Rep. Fisher said. “We erect memorials to the victims of war, the victims of slavery, the victims of terrorism, why not erect one to the victims of abortion?
“Let’s also understand that the victims of abortion are not just the babies lost, but often times the mother and even the father regret the decision.”
If more than one application is submitted, the department, in consultation with the Capitol Planning Commission, shall approve the application that can best meet the requirements for construction and maintenance of the monument.
The bill provides that no governmental funds shall be used to plan, erect or maintain the monument.
The bill was referred to the State Government Committee.
“My idea for this bill was similar legislation I heard about in Tennessee,” Rep. Fisher said. “I don’t have any preconceived notions of exactly how this monument would look, that will be up to the commission and the artists to decide, but of course it must be in keeping with the intent of the bill, to memorialize the innocent lives cut short.”
