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Secretary of State Cole Jester has given final approval to the design for a “monument to the unborn” advocated by abortion opponents.
Capitol Arts and Grounds Commission Chair Stephen Bright, who is also Jester’s chief taxpayer services officer, told the Advocate after the commission’s meeting Tuesday that the lawmakers behind the design hoped to have the monument completed in 18 months — though that timeline would be entirely dependent on fundraising. He believed the lower price for the selected design would spur more donations.
“This has to be paid for completely before construction can start,” he said.
Arkansas was the first state to enact a law requiring such a monument on Capitol grounds. The 2023 law called for a monument to mark the abortions that were performed in the state between the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized the procedure nationwide and the 2022 ruling overturning Roe.
The law authorizing the monument states that Arkansans had at least 236,243 abortions between 1973 and 2022. An Arkansas law banning nearly all abortions took effect immediately with the court’s 2022 decision.
The “living wall” design by Sen. Kim Hammer and Rep. Mary Bentley, both Republicans, is nearly identical to a previously-approved proposal by artist Lakey Goff. Her initial design cost more than $900,000 and was approved by the grounds commission in 2023.
The commission reopened submissions in January after slow fundraising and Goff’s attempt to copyright her design, which would have prevented changes to it.
Goff submitted her design again in March, with a new cost of $345,000. Hammer’s and Bentley’s design was stated to cost $229,000, and would be smaller than Goff’s. The commission selected Hammer’s and Bentley’s design at its last meeting, to Goff’s vocal displeasure.
She appeared to reverse course Tuesday after being inspired by a “flash mob.”
“It was so inspiring to me, and that’s how I see this opportunity we have now. For the living wall that’s going to be built, I would like to come in to dance in rhythm with the secretary of state’s decision,” Goff said.
Goff’s proposal included speakers that would play recorded waterfall sounds. The speakers weren’t part of Hammer’s and Bentley’s design. Goff offered to give the state the recordings, as well as the website she’d created for the project.
She also asked donors who requested refunds of their donations to reconsider.
Bright said a handful of donors requested refunds from the state after submissions were reopened, one for $2,000 and the other for $1,000.
As of Tuesday, private individuals had donated $28,790 for the monument, $17,276 of which has not yet been spent. Bright said the state was exploring whether there was a mechanism to return money that had already been placed in the trust fund for the project.
“I was very pleased that Ms. Goff made that request,” Bright said. “We had hoped that this was about a memorial to the unborn, not to (Goff’s design), and so we hope that they will reconsider.”
Arkansas Advocate is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arkansas Advocate maintains editorial independence. This article was published with permission from the Arkansas Advocate. Contact Editor Andrew DeMillo for questions: [email protected]. Follow Arkansas Advocate on Facebook and Twitter.
