New law allows anti-abortion monument at Arkansas Capitol

FILE - Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, R-Ark., speaks while delivering the Republican response to President Biden's State of the Union address, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023, in Little Rock, Ark. On Tuesday, March 21, 2023, Sanders signed a law prohibiting transgender people at public schools from using the restroom that matches their gender identity, the first of several states expected to enact such bans this year amid a flood of bills nationwide targeting the trans community. (Al Drago/Pool Photo via AP, File)

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has signed a new law that will allow a monument near the state Capitol marking the number of abortions performed in Arkansas before the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade. 

Sanders’ office said 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. 

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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 anti-abortion groups. 

Tennessee lawmakers approved legislation in 2018 allowing a similar privately funded monument on its Capitol grounds. The monument has not yet been installed.