As of 2003-MAR-3, legislative activity is underway in many states. On
2002-APR, the Center for Reproductive Rights listed fifteen such states (CA, FL,
IA, IL, KS, KY, MI, MN, MS, NC, OH, OK, PA, SC, and WV). 1
Some sources claim that 30 or 40 states are considering legislation.
Some state activity is described below:
Georgia: House Bill 1281 was introduced in 1998-JAN to authorize
manufacture and distribution of Choose Life plates, if 1,000 applications were
received from motorists. The bill was never approved. Similar bills were introduced in 2003: HB 254 and HB
286. Both were referred to the House Committee on Children and Youth.
Illinois: House bill HB 10 has been introduced and has been assigned to
a committee. Senate bill SB 1502 was introduced in the Illinois senate, and
has also been referred to a committee. It would prohibit funding any organization
which is "involved or associated
with any abortion activities, including counseling for or referrals to
abortion clinics, providing medical 10 abortion-related procedures, or
pro-abortion advertising." "Pro-abortion" is a
conservative Christian term for "pro-choice."2
Iowa: The Iowa Family Policy Center, a Fundamentalist Christian
pro-life group, has 314 individuals signed up for their proposed "choose
life" plates as of 2003-APR-4. They need to have 500 signed up before the
Department of Transport would be able to produce the plates. They also
need to be able to ask a state government department to sponsor bill HF
139 which would make the plates available at a premium of $35.00.
Kansas: In 2002-FEB, a bill to authorize the sale of plates
passed 21 to 19 in the Senate. In 2002-APR it passed 64 to 59 in the
House. Governor Bill Graves vetoed the bill in 2002-APR. He said that
vehicle tags should not be used as moving billboards for editorial
comment. Motorists would have paid the standard $40 fee for specialty
license plates plus an additional $25 to $100 to Kansans for Life, a
pro-life group. 3
Michigan: Senate Bill SB 112 was introduced on 2003-JAN-29. The
plates would cost an extra $25, of which $20 would go to the "Choose Life
fund." A similar bill passed the state House in 2002, but died in the
Senate. 4
New Hampshire: State Rep. Dan Itse
(R-Fremont) is sponsoring a bill to allow plates to be sold for an extra
$25 fee. No proceeds would be allowed to go to any agency that offers
abortion, abortion counseling, or abortion referrals.
Itse said: that some lawmakers will oppose the
bill: "those who are against it because they are pro-abortion, those
who are against it because they don't believe there should be any
specialty plates, and those who are against it because their specialty
plates didn't get approved." 5
Texas: A bill to authorize license plates was debated by the Texas'
House State Affairs Committee on 2003-APR-7. It did not proceed.
Bill H.B. 109 has been initiated in 2008 to approve the creation of Choose Life license plates.
Joe Pojman, executive director of the Texas
Alliance for Life -- a group that promotes abortion only to save the life
of the woman -- 9 anticipates that it will pass. He said:
"We think we have the votes to pass it. ... it has tremendous...grassroots
support and we are optimistic that going into our legislative session, which
begins in January, that we can get this bill past the legislature and to the
governor's desk for his signature. Twenty-two dollars would go to a special
fund that would be administered to non-profit charitable organizations,
pregnancy resource centers, maternity homes, and Gabriel projects that help
pregnant women who are considering adoption."
10
Virginia: Bill HB 1406 which would authorize Choose Life
plates is before Governor Mark Warner. It passed the House by a vote of 57
to 37, and the Senate by 25 to 14. 6 On 2003-FEB-27, he
said that legislators "have gone too far" by
turning the special license plate program into a political forum. He said:
"I have a real concern about our license plates becoming
state-sanctioned political statements." The American Civil
Liberties Union has indicated that it will sue if the governor signs
the bill into law. "This is not about reproductive freedom but about free
speech," ACLU of Virginia executive director Kent Willis wrote in a press
release: "The legislature cannot issue a license plate advocating one
viewpoint on reproductive freedom without giving the other viewpoint the
same opportunity." 7 In a poll of their web site's
visitors, HamptonRoads.com found that:
42% would prefer that the issue be dropped.
31% supported the Choose Life plate.
23% wanted both Choose Life and a pro-choice plate.
4% prefer a Support Adoption plate. (N = 4299) 8
Sponsored link:
Status of "choose life" license plate laws:
As of mid-2006:
18 states had laws on the books that allow the production of
"Choose-life" plates.
They are: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Kentucky,
Louisiana, Maryland, Ohio, Oklahoma, Maryland, Mississippi, Montana, Ohio,
Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota and Tennessee
Of these, laws in South Carolina and Tennessee have been blocked by
court orders.
During the 2006 legislative session in Georgia, a bill was passed and signed
by the governor. It became effective on 2007-JAN-01
According to OneNewsNow, as of the end of 2008:
19 states have "Choose Life" license plates for sale
3 have approved their sale and will make them available soon 11
References:
The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above
essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.
