Bill seeks to place monument to 'unborn children' on state Capitol grounds

Two Republican lawmakers, who unsuccessfully tried to make the Holy Bible the official state book, are teaming up on a new idea: creating a monument to unborn children.

Rep. Jerry Sexton, R-Bean Station, and Sen. Steve Southerland, R-Morristown, have introduced a bill that would require the State Capitol Commission to initiate a plan to commission "a memorial in dedication to and in recognition of unborn children in this state."

The commission would be required to solicit public input for developing a plan, which would include design proposals. The memorial would be located on the grounds of the state Capitol, according to the legislation.

The legislation, HB 2381, does not go into many specifics other than to say the commission would be able to accept gifts, grants and donations from non-state sources to create the memorial. The bill notes that no state resources should be used to develop and implement the plan.

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The bill does, however, say upon completion, the memorial must be named the "Tennessee Monument to Unborn Children."

The memorial would not be without precedent in Tennessee. Founded in 1994, the National Memorial for the Unborn is located in Chattanooga. The memorial, which is a granite wall with names on it, sits on the former property of the Chattanooga Women's Clinic.

The memorial is "dedicated to healing generations of pain associated with the loss of aborted and miscarried children," according to the monument's website.

The latest idea from Sexton and Southerland comes after the two previously introduced a bill to make the Holy Bible the official state book. Gov. Bill Haslam vetoed the legislation in 2016. The legislature unsuccessfully tried to override the governor's veto.

Reach Joel Ebert at jebert@tennessean.com or 615-772-1681 and on Twitter @joelebert29.