“It’s all in God’s timing,” says Sen. Janice Bowling (R-Tullahoma), who saw her eight-year effort to erect a "monument to the unborn" on the grounds of the state Capitol come to fruition this week.
On Wednesday, Bowling was joined by dozens of legislators and anti-abortion advocacy group Tennessee Right to Life at the Capitol. Also present were protesters led by state Rep. Aftyn Behn (D-Nashville) and Tennessee Advocates for Planned Parenthood. The monument — the first in the nation on the grounds of a state capitol — was dedicated on the fourth anniversary of the overturning of Roe v. Wade, which set into motion a trigger ban on abortion in Tennessee.
“We're hoping that with repeal of Roe v. Wade, people have the liberty to say, 'These were lives, and there's no condemnation, there's no finger-pointing,'” Bowling tells the Scene. “This is just to recognize those of the unborn. We've heard from many ladies who might have had an abortion, and this place will be a place of closure for them.”
Nearby monuments include one memorializing victims of the Holocaust, and another for victims of slavery. Former state Rep. Bill Dunn (R-Knoxville) compared abortion to those two atrocities.
“There's a monument similar to what we're about to unveil for the victims of the Holocaust,” Dunn told attendees Wednesday. “At the very bottom, after you read it, it'll say, 'This monument is here so we never forget.' There's another monument very similar to what we're about to unveil. It's for the victims of slavery. ... Tennessee has not forgotten, the legislature has not forgotten, it has passed laws to protect the unborn.”
When Bowling — along with state Sen. Steve Southerland (R-Morristown) and former state Rep. Jerry Sexton (R-Bean Station) — helped introduce legislation to allow such a monument on Capitol grounds in 2018, abortion was still fully legal in Tennessee. In 2022, Tennessee’s abortion trigger ban went into effect following the U.S. Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v. Wade. Since then, the Tennessee General Assembly has attempted to further chip away at reproductive freedom.
Though pregnant people are protected from litigation, Bulso’s bill could still open a path to a federal lawsuit
During this year’s legislative session, Republican lawmakers sought to further crack down on the interstate delivery of abortion pills, and also pushed legislation that would allow people to be given the death penalty for receiving an abortion — the latter was quickly shot down.
Bringing the marker to fruition was one of the first things on Sen. Tom Hatcher’s (R-Maryville) desk when he entered office in 2024. He tells the Scene he considers it one of his most important issues, tears filling his eyes following Wednesday’s dedication. Hatcher worked with Maryville Monument Company in his home county, which charged half price for the monument and installation — $7,500, which Hatcher raised through his nonprofit, Tom Hatcher Charity. Most of the donations came from legislators, he says.
Anti-abortion advocate Regina Paulsen places a rose at the base of an anti-abortion memorial, June 24, 2026
“I had an abortion 34 years ago, and I am very grateful that this state wants to honor children that have been lost to abortion, because it is something that grieves the soul of those of us who have had one,” says Regina Paulsen, who previously managed the National Memorial for the Unborn in Chattanooga.
In the latest America’s Health Rankings, Tennessee ranks 47th in the nation for maternal mortality outcomes. Between 2021 and 2023, two-thirds of pregnancy-related deaths were deemed preventable, according to the Tennessee Department of Health’s 2025 maternal mortality report. Black women experience nearly three times the mortality rate of white women.
Earlier this year, the legislature considered a bill from the Tennessee Advocates for Planned Parenthood that would have ensured access to maternal healthcare even if a medical professional doesn’t align ideologically with the pregnant person. That was shot down.
Anti-abortion advocates including numerous Republican lawmakers applaud the unveiling of an anti-abortion memorial, June 24, 2026
“That's why we're out here today, to demonstrate the contradiction that there's this performative symbolic-only effort to have concern about life, when from a policy standpoint there are actual real things that we can do to help pregnant people and their children,” says TAPP executive director Francie Hunt.
For Hunt and others opposed to the monument, it’s a misplacement of values.
"Today tells you everything about the controlling party's priorities,” says state Sen. Heidi Campbell (D-Nashville). “Republican politicians found time to memorialize a stone slab, but they can't find the votes to lower the cost of groceries, housing or healthcare for Tennessee families.”
