Church Dedicates Memorial to Mourn 64 Million Babies Killed in Abortion

State   |   Micaiah Bilger   |   Jun 6, 2023   |   3:48PM   |   Nashville, Tennessee

Across the country, pro-life advocates are erecting monuments to remember the 64 million victims of the now-overturned Roe v. Wade.

The newest memorial to unborn babies was dedicated May 28 in Tennessee, one of 15 states that now protects babies in the womb by banning elective abortions.

Our Sunday Visitor reports parishioners of St. Philip of the Apostle Catholic Church in Somerville created the stone monument “in memory of the victims of abortion.”

Located next to the main entrance of the church, the monument displays the image of an unborn baby and the Bible verse Jeremiah 1:5, which says: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I consecrated you.”

Edna Nelson, pro-life director at St. Philip, told the Catholic newspaper that the monument serves as a reminder “to pray for our unborn and for God to open the hearts of their parents. He created that tiny life — it is not just a piece of clay.”

Nelson said the idea began with Frank Frangenberg, a member of the local Knight of Columbus council, a Catholic fraternal organization that is active in pro-life causes. The St. Philip council raised $2,500 to help build the monument, according to the report.

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“Frank saw the need for us to have something to draw attention to the issue of abortion, and also something that the knights could support, because the monument had to be installed on the church grounds,” she told OSV News.

In the nearly 50 years under RoeTennessee Right to Life estimates more than 652,487 unborn babies were aborted in Tennessee. Now, the state bans elective abortions, saving as many as 10,000 unborn babies a year.

Mark Ginter, a member of the parish and a Catholic theologian and fellow for the Franciscan University of Steubenville’s Catechetical Institute, blamed “the deception of the Evil One” for abortions.

“[This memorial] is both appropriately solemn and provides one a place to come to, remember and mourn the victims of abortion,” Ginter told OSV News. “It was also a healing service for the men and women who have lost a child through abortion, and those health care people who participate in this horrific act.”

Another monument to unborn babies was installed earlier in May at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Aborting unborn babies is still legal in the capital, and sculptor Timothy Schmalz said he hopes the monument will remind passers-by of the value of babies in the womb.

This spring, the Texas Legislature is considering legislation to permit another pro-life statue by Schmalz to be erected on the state Capitol grounds in Austin. And Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a law in March to create a memorial to unborn babies killed in abortions in her state. Both Arkansas and Texas protect unborn babies by banning elective abortions.