LINCOLN, Neb. (KMTV) — Five years after a bill to create a "Choose Life" license plate was passed in Nebraska, the state is adding another symbol of support to the pro-life movement.
On Friday, Acting Governor Mike Foley signed a State of Nebraska proclamation to recognize the flag of the Pro-Life Flag Project to be the official design for the pro-life movement.
Included in the proclamation is the following statement:
"Nebraska is a pro-life state with a track record of pro-life legislation. In 2002 and 2004, the Unicameral enacted legislation to criminalize fetal homicide and fetal assault. In 2010, Nebraska became the first state in the nation to ban abortion after 20 weeks of gestation. In 2020, the Nebraska Legislature banned the barbaric practice of dismemberment abortion within the state..."
According to information on the website of the organization behind the flag, known as the Pro-Life Flag Project, a contest to design the flag was launched in May 2021 and the finalist emerged in July 2021 via vote. There is no name to whom to attribute the design.
The design features two thick lateral stripes of hot pink and indigo blue with a circle over the top of them. Inside the circle, a minimalist set of hot pink-colored hands hovers around a set of bare footprints, one blue and one pink, with the inner curves of each foot forming a white heart shape. The feet are a callback to the "Precious Feet" which were declared the international pro-life symbol in 1979.
"The pro-life movement is composed of thousands of organizations and hundreds of millions of supporters worldwide, but it has traditionally lacked a single, well-known, unifying flag," reads the Pro-Life Flag Project website. "The team at Pro-Life Flag Project is attempting to change that. We believe that creating, promoting, and proudly flying a unified, freely-reproducible, international pro-life flag will wildly help the movement in its already-unified aim: ending abortion."
In addition to flags, the site sells bumper stickers, shirts, phone cases and face masks but also allows supporters to download free flag template files. The Lincoln Right to Life group is listed among dozens of national partners of the Pro-Life Flag Project.
Friday's state proclamation, which also states that "It is fitting and proper for Nebraskans to exercise their First Amendment rights to proclaim the human dignity of the unborn" comes one day before the annual Walk For Life at the Capitol building in Lincoln.
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