Idaho House lawmakers have advanced a resolution to fly flags at half-staff on January 22 each year in memory of the tens of millions unborn babies who have been killed in abortions under Roe v. Wade. The House ultimate voted for the resolution 42-20.
Rep. Barbara Ehardt, R-Idaho Falls, introduced the resolution to designate Jan. 22, the anniversary of Roe, as an annual “Day of Tears” for abortion victims.
In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court forced states to legalize abortion on demand through Roe v. Wade. Since then, more than 63 million unborn babies have been aborted, including about 1 million annually.
“We are creating a day of remembrance,” Ehardt told her fellow lawmakers. “This isn’t a cheap ploy; this is about putting us in a position to remember, and in our own way, doing something about it.”
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“This resolution seeks to honor and help us remember those that have passed on,” Ehardt says. “It is another way to remind us of a wrong that we have an opportunity coming up hopefully in the next six months to make right.”
Critics of the resolution said it disrespected the American flag by turning it into a billboard for a divisive issue.
The Senate passed a “Day of Tears” resolution after similar debate last week.
Lawmakers in Ohio, Tennessee, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Mississippi and South Carolina have introduced similar “Day of Tears” resolutions. Ehardt and many other pro-lifers have renewed hope that the Supreme Court may reverse its deadly abortion ruling and allow states to protect unborn babies again.
In December, the Supreme Court heard a Mississippi challenge to Roe v. Wade that could allow states to ban abortions or, at the very least, enact more limits, such as an abortion ban after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
If the court grants Mississippi’s request, experts estimate as many as 26 states would ban abortions and hundreds of thousands of babies would be spared from violent abortion deaths every year across America.
A ruling is expected in June.
Polls consistently show that a strong majority of Americans oppose abortion on demand and support strong legal protections for unborn babies. A new Vinea Research/Students for Life poll found 52 percent of millennials support banning all or most abortions once an unborn baby’s heartbeat is detectable, about six weeks of pregnancy. That is up from 47 percent who supported a heartbeat abortion ban in 2021.
