Credit for all article images: Jennifer Hay
Submitted by Jennifer Hay –
On Wednesday, June 24, pro-life Tennesseans gathered on the grounds of the Tennessee State Capitol for the unveiling and dedication of a new monument honoring aborted children. The monument is a simple black stone engraved with these words:
In Memory of the Unborn
The Baby whose life was lost
The Mother who regrets
The Father who couldn’t protect
The Child who lost a sibling
& Society, which is coarsened by every deliberate attack on human life
Dedicated June 24, 2026
The date of the dedication was significant. It was the fourth anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022) which returned the authority to regulate abortion to the states. This Supreme Court decision triggered the enactment of Tennessee’s Human Life Protection Act (2019) which rendered abortion illegal in Tennessee.
About 125 people attended the dedication including about 50 active or retired legislators and other officials. About 25 protestors were also there.
The monument was authorized by legislation passed in 2018, though no public funds were used to make it.
Legislators who sponsored the original bill spoke at the dedication, including Janice Bowling, Tom Hatcher, Jerry Sexton, Steve Southerland, and Bill Dunn. “We want to give all the glory to God for everything,” said Sexton in his remarks. Others spoke about giving people a peaceful, dignified place to mourn.
After the dedication, people were invited to lay roses at the base of the monument and take photographs. State troopers stood behind the memorial to shield it from protestors.
“They told me we couldn’t have this memorial on the capitol grounds,” Rep. Jerry Sexton told me afterwards. “I told them it was going to be here, or it wasn’t going to be anywhere. It had to go here, because there’s a holocaust memorial on one side and a memorial to slavery on the other. What both of those have in common is that they weren’t considered real people. Both of those memorials say, ‘Never forget,’ but here we are killing babies, and it’s legal to do it. I didn’t think we were going to get it passed, but we did.”
At the reception following the dedication, Will Brewer, attorney for Tennessee Right to Life, spoke about the process for realizing the memorial after it was approved. “The original cost from the Capitol Commission was $250K, but Jeff Wallace at Maryville Monuments provided the stone, and in the end, we got it all done for about $7500.”
Donations for the upkeep of the monument can be made through a charity established by Senator Tom Hatcher.
“This memorial stands for something deeply important: a recognition that every Life matters,” Tennessee Right to Life said in an email to supporters. “This is a place to honor the lives lost and a public declaration that Tennesseans will not forget.”
About the Author: Jennifer Hay is the founder of Knoxville Nobility, a Substack publication for local pro-life, pro-family news and insights.
One Response
Good, thanx.