Quote:The nation's ongoing turmoil over controversial monuments took a new turn this week, when the Tennessee House passed a bill calling for an official state monument to unborn children at the state capitol.


If passed by the Senate and signed into law, the Tennessee Monument to Unborn Children would be paid for with private donations, and "would be dedicated to children who were not born due to miscarriage or abortion," backers have told media outlets.

The bill does not say where the monument would be installed on the state capitol campus in Nashville or what it would look like.

Planned Parenthood is among a growing number of groups that have voiced opposition to the monument, claiming it is intended to shame women who choose to abort a child.
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The House passed it by a vote of 63-15 this week, following a brief debate that got so heated that Speaker Beth Harwell had to demand order, reports CBS News.

The bill was sponsored by Rep. Jerry Sexton, a Republican from Bean Station, and is sponsored in the Senate by Republican Steve Southerland of Morristown. Both men were previously involved in an unsuccessfull effort to make the Bible the official state book, reported the Nashville Tennessean. Gov. Bill Haslam vetoed that legislation in 2016 and the legislature tried unsuccessfully to override the veto, the Tennessean reported.

Democrats from Nashville demanded to know why there was a need for such a monument because there is a memorial for children who have died at Nashville's Centennial Park, reported CBS.

Sexton told TV station WSMV the statue is different because it would recognize children who were never born due to miscarriage or abortion.

“We have the (state) monument to slavery and the holocaust,” Sexton was quoted telling the station. “We don’t want these atrocities to ever happen again, so this it put in reference to those two monuments.”

Tennessee Advocates for Planned Parenthood told TV station WSMV it will continue to fight the legislation, believing the monument's purpose is "to shame women who have had abortions.” 

Planned Parenthood of Middle and East Tennessee told the Charlotte Observer it has also taken a stand against the proposal, but is being cautious not to suggest the state would be wrong in honoring children who died as a result of a miscarriage.

"At its core, the purpose of this monument is to further stigmatize abortion," said Tereva Parham, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of Middle and East Tennessee.

"Our initial reaction to this proposal is that it's another form of political posturing to further create a hostile environment toward reproductive health."

The memorial could be a first in the nation for a state capitol but is not without precedent in Tennessee.

There is currently a National Memorial for the Unborn located in Chattanooga. The 50-foot granite "Wall of Names" holds small brass plates with words of remembrance from individuals and families all over the country "seeking post-abortion healing," says a web page for the national monument.

The monument sits on the former property of the Chattanooga Women's Clinic and is "dedicated to healing generations of pain associated with the loss of aborted and miscarried children," according to the monument's website.

(04-23-2018, 11:04 AM)GMDino Wrote: I don't have a problem at its most basic point.  I also do not see it as "shaming" anyone who had an abortion.  I realize it was more than likely an awful decision that the woman has to live with her entire life and may not want reminded also.  But in principle a monument to the unborn does not bother me personally.

I do not know the legality of it being on public ground, private funds paying for it, etc.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/latest-news/article209437324.html

(04-23-2018, 11:04 AM)GMDino Wrote: I don't have a problem at its most basic point.  I also do not see it as "shaming" anyone who had an abortion.  I realize it was more than likely an awful decision that the woman has to live with her entire life and may not want reminded also.  But in principle a monument to the unborn does not bother me personally.

I do not know the legality of it being on public ground, private funds paying for it, etc.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/latest-news/article209437324.html

(04-23-2018, 02:07 PM)PhilHos Wrote: I'm curious as to how much Planned Parenthood spends in fighting things like this.

(04-23-2018, 02:49 PM)GMDino Wrote: Probably the cost of a press release unless they want to push something to court.

(04-23-2018, 02:53 PM)PhilHos Wrote: That's why I'm curious. The article says they're "fighting" it, but how? In ways that don't really cost money lik just calling their representatives? Or what?

(04-23-2018, 03:13 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Planned Parenthood has to maintain lobbyist just to ensure their continued existence.  I am sure they view this as another PR attack against them so they have to fight back.

(04-23-2018, 03:17 PM)PhilHos Wrote: I know WHY they're fighing it; I'm just curious as to how much they're spending on fighting it. 

(04-23-2018, 03:17 PM)PhilHos Wrote: I know WHY they're fighing it; I'm just curious as to how much they're spending on fighting it. 

(04-23-2018, 03:28 PM)fredtoast Wrote: What difference does it make?

(04-23-2018, 04:35 PM)PhilHos Wrote: Well, I find it interesting and funny if they're getting governmental subsidies and they spend money fighting the government.

(04-23-2018, 04:35 PM)PhilHos Wrote: Well, I find it interesting and funny if they're getting governmental subsidies and they spend money fighting the government.

(04-23-2018, 04:50 PM)GMDino Wrote: Don't other businesses do the same when it is in their interest?  

(04-23-2018, 05:28 PM)fredtoast Wrote: They get government subsidies for services provided.  They do not get money from the government to fight the government.

Every form of business that gets subsidies from the government (and there are tons of them) also fights against government regulations that have a negative effect on them.  Planned Parenthood is no different. 

(04-23-2018, 04:35 PM)PhilHos Wrote: Well, I find it interesting and funny if they're getting governmental subsidies and they spend money fighting the government.

(04-23-2018, 08:27 PM)ballsofsteel Wrote: Is this memorial for dead fetuses never born or for all the babies that are born out of wedlock that get beat to death by boyfriends baby sitting while the baby mama is working?