SW News: Arkansas Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a new bill into law that permits the installation of a pro-life monument next to the state Capitol to honor the lives lost to abortion.

The privately-funded "monument to the unborn" would commemorate the abortions that were carried out in Arkansas before Roe v. Wade was reversed last year, allowing states to enact their abortion regulations.

After the US Supreme Court overturned 1973 ruling Roe v. Wade, Arkansas's 2019 abortion ban came into force last year. The law states that abortions are only permitted when the procedure is required to preserve the mother's life in the event of an emergency.

The monument's location on the Capitol grounds, which also contain a number of other monuments, including one honoring the nine African students who integrated Little Rock Central High School, is not specified under the statute. In 2018, a Ten Commandments monument was erected on the grounds of the Capitol.

Republican Rep. Mary Bentley, the bill's sponsor in the House, said the law would enable the state to gather private funds to honor those children “we were not able to protect and we will not be able to forget.”

Donations made to the "Monument to Unborn Children Display Fund" will be used to pay for the monument.

The Arkansas Secretary of State will coordinate the construction, placement, and dedication of the monument on the State Capitol grounds once an artist has been selected.