Idaho state lawmaker calls for flags at half-staff in recognition of anti-abortion ‘Day of Tears’

A committee of Idaho state lawmakers introduced a resolution Monday that would recognize Jan. 22 as a “Day of Tears,” lowering flags to half-staff to draw attention to the practice of abortion.

The measure was introduced to the Idaho Senate State Affairs Committee by Republican state Rep. Barbara Ehardt of Idaho Falls. It resolves to encourage citizens of Idaho to “mourn the innocents who have lost their lives to abortion.”

Ehardt’s resolution is inspired by the Virginia-based Day of Tears organization, which intends to introduce similar legislation throughout the country designating as a day of mourning Jan. 22, the day in 1973 that the Supreme Court ruled in Roe v. Wade that abortion is a constitutional right.

“Since that fateful day more than 62 million unborn children have perished,” the resolution says.

“Day of Tears” resolutions have been passed in Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama, Ehardt said, telling the House State Affairs Committee Tuesday that similar resolutions will also be introduced in Ohio, Tennessee, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Mississippi and South Carolina.

“This resolution seeks to honor and help us remember those that have passed on,” Ehardt said. “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.”

The Supreme Court is expected to decide a case later this year, ​​Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which abortion rights advocates fear could result in the overturning of Roe v. Wade due to the court’s conservative majority.