Seth Udinski, FISM News
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The Idaho House passed a legislation on Wednesday, officially marking Jan. 22 as a “Day of Tears,” a day of solemn statewide remembrance for the more than 60 million babies murdered in the womb in America since 1973. The Idaho Senate had previously passed a corresponding version of the bill.
The legislation, titled House Resolution No. 5, garnered ample discussion but was eventually passed. The state will now observe Jan. 22 by encouraging Idaho citizens to lower flags to half-staff “to mourn the innocents who have lost their lives to abortion.” The day falls on the anniversary of the 1973 Roe v. Wade SCOTUS decision that legalized abortion throughout the nation.
Rep. Barbra Ehardt. sponsored the resolution and said that the bill was meant to create a day to help citizens remember the “egregorious wrong[s]” of abortion, with hopes that Roe v. Wade will be overturned:
What we’re actually doing is we are creating a day of remembrance, it’s helping us to remember an egregious wrong that’s been perpetrated on our kids, on the United States. And I hope we don’t have to continue to remember it because I believe that in less than a year from now, we are going to be able to celebrate because the laws are going to be changed and it’s going to be sent back to the states as it should. That is my hope.
Sen. Mary Souza (R.) said of the bill,
Since [Roe v. Wade], nearly 62 million babies have been aborted. That is more lives than the entire population of Canada. That is more lives than the population of California, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Nevada combined.
The bill received pushback from Democrats, especially on the issue of a state-wide practice of lowering flags to half-staff. Supporters of the legislation reiterated that it is not a state mandate, in spite of the assumptions from Democrats. It is rather a state recognition and encouragement for families who care for the cause of the unborn to partake in a public display of support for the unborn.
Souza said in response to her Democratic colleagues,
Let me reiterate that this resolution encourages citizens to lower their flags to half-mast on Jan. 22 in remembrance every year. It is not mandatory. It is not dictated by any governmental body as a mandate.
The Idaho House passed the bill last week by a vote of 40 yes, 20 nay, and two lawmakers absent. Idaho now joins West Virginia, Alabama, Louisiana, and Arkansas, who have passed similar resolutions.