By Tom Porter
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The Tennessee State House has passed a bill calling for a monument to be built for unborn children, including those not born because of abortion.
The House passed the bill by a vote of 63-15, after a brief debate that got so heated that Speaker Beth Harwell had to demand order, the Tennessean reported Friday.
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Private donations will fund the construction of the monument dedicated to "children who were not born due to miscarriage or abortion" if the bill passes the state Senate.
Democrats in the House had opposed the measure, arguing that a monument to children who have died already existed in Centennial Park, Nashville.
However bill sponsor Jerry Sexton, a Republican, said that the step was necessary as no monument to unborn children existed.
"We have the (state) monument to slavery and the holocaust," Sexton was quoted telling television station WSMV. "We don't want these atrocities to ever happen again, so this it put in reference to those two monuments."
The bill reportedly does not state whether the monument will stand on the grounds of the state Capitol in Nashville, or what it will look like.
Planned Parenthood has criticized plans for the monument, claiming its purpose is to stigmatize women who have an abortion.
"Our initial reaction to this proposal is that it's another form of political posturing to further create a hostile environment toward reproductive health," Tereva Parham, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of Middle and East Tennessee told the Charlotte Observer.
Earlier in April, a bill allowing women seeking abortion to be offered a chance to view an ultrasound was passed by the state Senate Judiciary Committee.
The original version of the bill would have outlawed abortions in cases where a fetal heartbeat had been detected.
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