Saturday, January 22, marks Arkansas’ first annual Day of Tears.

In 2021 the state legislature passed H.C.R. 1007 acknowledging that January 22 — the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade abortion decision — will from now on be known as the Day of Tears in Arkansas.

The resolution encourages all Arkansans to lower their flags to half-staff to mourn the millions of lives lost to abortion.

The resolution reads,

WHEREAS, on January 22, 1973, the majority of the members of the United States Supreme Court ruled that abortion was a right secured by the United States Constitution; and

WHEREAS, over sixty-one million (61,000,000) unborn children have perished since that fateful day,

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS, THE SENATE CONCURRING THEREIN:

THAT the House of Representatives of the Ninety-Third General Assembly, the Senate concurring, recognize January 22, in perpetuity, as the “Day of Tears” in Arkansas and that the citizens of Arkansas are encouraged to lower their flags to half-staff to mourn the innocent unborn children who have lost their lives to abortion.

Alabama and Louisiana passed Day of Tears resolutions last year, and similar measures have been proposed in other states this year.

The Day of Tears is a way to mark the anniversary of Roe v. Wade in Arkansas and to acknowledge the destruction that abortion has caused in our country.