The artist who designed a “monument to the unborn” to be built on the Arkansas Capitol grounds said Tuesday that she expects to have raised a total of $100,000 for the project by the end of October.

Act 310 of 2023 authorizes the Secretary of State to decide where to place “a suitable monument commemorating unborn children aborted during the era of Roe v. Wade.” The law states that Arkansans had at least 236,243 abortions while the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion was in place from 1973 to 2022.

In late 2023, the Capitol Arts and Grounds Commission selected artist Lakey Goff’s idea of a “living wall” of flora and fauna for the monument. Act 310 established a trust fund to raise money via private gifts, grants and donations, and fundraising for the project began in May

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