Free Speech and Choose Life License Plate

Anti-Abortion Activists Want License Plate Rights Tempers Flare Over Polarizing Free-Speech Issue
Posted: Oct, 20 2009 – AOL

Vanity plates — those alphanumeric jumbles that provide windows into a driver’s soul, from “QT PIE” to “NYCEHUH” — are huge financial bonanzas for states. With more than nine million of them in circulation and registration and renewal fees ranging from $20 to more than $100, some states can rely on yearly revenue beyond seven figures.

Vanity plates are personalized and highly personal — everyone knows that the message is the driver’s alone. If you’re tooling through St. Louis and end up behind a car with a plate that reads “BCK OFF,” you don’t assume that the sentiment is endorsed or supported by anyone at the DMV or the Missouri government. Still, governments have rules about what is and isn’t allowed on a plate. A Colorado woman so fond of bean curd that she applied for “ILVTOFU” was declined on the grounds that it could be misread. A librarian in Nevada named Stacy who had the vanity plate “XSTACY” for more than two decades was shocked when Nevada said she couldn’t renew it: the state felt that the plate was now more synonymous with the drug than the woman, and illegal references are strictly banned.

You Can’t Show Your Support Here
Illinois
New Jersey
New York
In the above states, drivers currently can’t show their support (either for or against abortion) according to state laws.

Special interest license plates, or specialty plates, that endorse a specific charitable cause such as California’s Coastal Commission plates or Ohio’s Pet License plates, present more difficult issues. They often bring in even more money than vanity plates, since the specialty plate fee is assessed on top the vanity plate surcharge. Florida introduced the first vanity plate after the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986. Twenty-one years later, in fiscal 2007, the Sunshine State booked $33.5 million in revenues from its 113 specialty plates alone.

In most cases more than half of the fee for a specialty plate, and sometimes almost all of the fee, actually goes to the charitable organization responsible for the creation of the plate. The state then keeps a small percentage for manufacturing and administration.

But the arrival of the Choose Life specialty plate — another Florida creation — and the lawsuits that have followed it around the country, have kept many judges in many courts busy trying to decide between the First Amendment and states’ rights. The question is, is a specialty plate a matter of free speech, and if so, whose? The individual’s, or the state’s?

The Choose Life plate was made available to Florida drivers in 2000, after a four year legislative and judicial fight, and in 2007 it was the 8th most popular plate offered. The organization behind it, Choose Life, Inc., has been fighting to get the plate approved in every united state. The court battles that it has been waging for years and increasingly winning usually pit it against the ACLU and Planned Parenthood. According to Choose Life, Inc. as of July 1, 22 states have Choose Life license plates, three states have approved them but they aren’t yet available, 13 states are working on it, there are lawsuits in three other states, and in 9 states there is no work being done on the issue. Yet.
Choose Life plate
An example of a pro-life license plate, for the state of Florida, supported by Choose Life, Inc. Debates rage across the nation as to the legality of such plates.

At its most basic, Choose Life, Inc. is a non-profit. As far as the license plate is concerned, though, the charity wants to provide money for crisis pregnancy centers that will provide counseling and avenues for adoption for expectant mothers. Of the $22 paid to renew the plate, $20 goes to organizations supported by Choose Life, Inc. and the plate’s success has brought in more than $6 million. What has brought on the lawsuits is that Choose Life, Inc. only supports organizations that do not perform, nor refer, nor counsel on abortions, and the Planned Parenthood and the ACLU have taken issue with that, claiming that any state that issues the Choose Life plate is endorsing one side of a debate — the anti-abortion side.

The argument being used to counter that is that the Choose Life plate is a matter of free speech — no one is compelled to buy and display the plate. As such, states aren’t at liberty to curtail it, and Planned Parenthood is free to get a Choose Choice plate approved. The Supreme Court has declined to hear any of the cases and create a federal standard, so states are left to decide on their own and that has created a mix of approvals, rejections, and ongoing court hearings. Hawaii does have a Respect Choice license plate, but uptake has been so low that it’s in danger of being rescinded. Tennessee, on the other hand, rejected the Choose Choice license plate, and that decision was upheld by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The question is really whether this is about the First Amendment and free speech, or a religious and political debate. Choose Life, Inc. and its supporters have undeniably polarizing stance.

“We are free to speak,” said Elizabeth Rex, president of the New York-based Children First Foundation, “whether what we say is controversial or not.” But that isn’t true when it comes to license plates. When the Knights of Columbus wanted a specialty plate in Arkansas, they were turned down because the state was afraid the KKK would want one as well. A Christian school official in Vermont wanted the vanity plate “ROMANS5″ and was turned down. When Colorado added another surcharge to the cost of its Breast Cancer Awareness specialty plate, the organization that got the plate approved had it pulled from circulation.

Clearly, license plates are not uncensored forums.

Nevertheless, Choose Life, Inc. is by no means the only religious-affiliated plate available. Florida has a Family Values plate that supports the Sheridan House Family Ministries, a thoroughly religious organization. Ohio has a One Nation Under God plate supported by a charity focused on keeping God in the Pledge of Allegiance. Pennsylvania has a Knights of Columbus plate — those same knights that were rejected in Arkansas. And there are many, many more.

The result is that the debate remains muddled enough to give both sides, Choose Life, Inc. and Planned Parenthood, enough legal room to pose credible court cases until the Supreme Court decides to weigh in.

The best solution for both sides in the interim could be the one that’s been around even longer than license plates: bumper stickers. They don’t have the gravitas of license plates but you can make up for that with sheer volume, they can say anything you want, and they come in every color imaginable.

Good luck getting them off your car, though.

Abortion support falls sharply

Abortion support falls sharply, new research finds
updated 6:48 p.m. EDT, Thu October 1, 2009

By Richard Allen Greene
CNN

(CNN) — Support for abortion rights has fallen sharply in the past year, with Americans now split roughly 50-50 between those who back legal access to abortion and those who oppose it, according to a new survey.

The findings mark a dramatic shift in public opinion, supporters of abortion rights have outnumbered opponents for many years, with one brief exception, studies have shown. But only 47 percent of Americans now feel abortion should be legal in all or most cases, a drop from 54 percent a year ago, according to the poll. Meanwhile, 45 percent say it should be illegal in all or most cases. That’s up from 41 percent a year ago. Given the survey’s margin of error, the two camps are statistically tied.

“These data suggest that a number of people have changed their minds in the past year,” said Gregory Smith of the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, one of the survey’s authors.

It’s not only one type of person or group whose opinion has changed, he said. “There was a drop seen in many, many demographics: men and women, people with a college degree and those with less education, people with various religious backgrounds.”

The only groups whose opinions on abortion did not change were African-Americans — who tend to oppose it — and young people and those not affiliated with any particular religion, who tend to say it should be legal, he said.

“Beyond that, this movement [was] across the board,” he said.

Anti-abortion activists welcomed the findings.

“This is great news. This poll shows that the pro-life movement is winning hearts and minds. Pro-lifers are making an effective case that all women deserve better than abortion and that every child deserves a chance to be born,” said Cathy Ruse, the senior fellow for legal studies at the anti-abortion Family Research Council in Washington.

The Rev. Flip Benham, a Dallas, Texas-based anti-abortion activist, said the survey reflected a change he had already seen taking place.

“It’s something that we have known for a long, long time that’s been beneath the radar,” he said. “The heart of America is changing and only with time do the laws reflect that change.”

“When the church will come out into the streets, we win the battle,” said Benham, director of operations for Operation Save America.

“We have to return to the God of our founding fathers and our pilgrim fathers,” he said.

But Terry O’Neill, the president of the National Organization for Women, firmly rejects religious opposition to abortion.

“Abortion is a blessing when it is chosen freely by a woman who needs it. It is a blessing,” she said, citing the Rev. Katherine Ragsdale, dean of the Episcopal Divinity School.

O’Neill has been in that position herself, she said.

“When I was in my early 20s, I thought I needed an abortion. I was escaping a very violent marriage that lasted about eight months,” she said. “The young man I was married to exploded and severely battered me.”

She fled to her parents’ home. A month later, she began to suspect she was pregnant with her abusive husband’s child.

“If I had had a baby, I would have been tied to that man for the rest of my life,” she said. “I didn’t need the abortion, as it turned out, but if I had needed that abortion, it would have been a blessing.

“I knew I was going to become a mother, but not with that man, not with that pregnancy,” she said.

She said it was important to distinguish between people who oppose abortion and those who want it to be against the law.

“I do realize that a lot of people in this country consider themselves to be pro-life,” she said. “They also don’t want it to be a crime for a woman to get an abortion.”

Smith, the researcher, suspects the election of President Obama, a pro-choice Democrat, may be one cause of the shift in public opinion.

“Look at the timing,” he said. “Through October of last year, the findings were consistent, with supporters outnumbering opponents,” he said.

Pew first noticed the change in public opinion in a survey in April, and did a larger study in August to confirm it.

Opponents of abortion feel more strongly about it than supporters of legal access, he said.

“Some people, particularly on the right, have become more entrenched, more certain of their own positions on abortion,” he said.

“Conservative Republicans are more certain about the correctness of their own position and less likely to say they want to see compromise. They are concerned that Obama will go too far in supporting abortion rights as president,” he said. “On the left you see some relaxing of views.”

But the survey also found that the number of people who felt passionately about abortion is falling.

About four out of 10 people in the survey could not define Obama’s position on abortion.

“That is an indicator that although opinions have moved, this issue right now is not at the top of the political debate,” Smith said.

But the subject has crept into the battle to reform America’s health care system, with opponents of abortion in both parties determined to prevent federal dollars from funding abortions. Under the Hyde amendment, federal money currently can be used to pay for abortions only in case of rape, incest and to protect the life of the mother.

There have been at least two abortion-related slayings in the United States this year, one on each side of the debate.

George Tiller, a doctor known for performing abortions, was killed in May.

Tiller was shot in the head at point-blank range on May 31 as services began at Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita, Kansas. Scott Roeder, a 51-year-old anti-abortion activist, is charged in Tiller’s killing. He has pleaded not guilty.

Anti-abortion activist Jim Pouillon, 63, was shot dead outside a school in Owosso, Michigan, on September 11. He was associated with Benham’s Operation Save America.

Harlan James Drake, 33, is accused of shooting him and another man in separate locations that day.

Authorities do not believe that Drake knew Pouillon; only that he was offended by anti-abortion material that Pouillon had displayed across from the school all week, according to Sara Edwards of the Shiawassee County prosecutor’s office.

The Supreme Court, the country’s main legal battleground on abortion, has ruled only once on the hot-button subject since 1992, in a close 2007 decision that upheld federal restrictions on a controversial late-term abortion procedure called “partial birth abortion” by its opponents.

Judge Sonia Sotomayor, then a federal appeals court judge, deflected questions about abortion this summer when she faced Senate confirmation hearings for a seat on the Supreme Court. She was confirmed. The court has not announced any abortion-related cases on its 2009-2010 docket.

The 1973 Supreme Court ruling Roe v. Wade effectively legalized abortion in the United States.

In 2005, 1.21 million abortions were performed, down from 1.31 million in 2000, according to data compiled by the Alan Guttmacher Institute, which aims to “advance sexual and reproductive health worldwide through research, policy analysis and education.”

About 2 percent of American women age 15-44 had an abortion in 2005, the latest year for which the institute has information. The rate has been falling gradually since 1981, when it peaked at just under 3 percent, institute figures show.

The new findings come from a telephone survey of more than 4,000 adults in August 2009, conducted by the Washington-based Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life and the Pew Research Center for The People & The Press.

Choose Life Billboard

Carolina Pregnancy Care Fellowship
Press Release Contact: Bobbie Meyer, Board President
October 5, 2009 Carolina Pregnancy Care Fellowship
Contact info: 704.281.8631
For Immediate Release

CPCF unveils billboard campaign for the Choose Life license plate
The Carolina Pregnancy Care Fellowship announces the placement of a billboard to inform the citizens of North Carolina about the Choose Life license plate issue. The billboard features a picture of the proposed NC Choose Life license plate along with the message, “Why Not, NC?” and a link to the NC Choose Life internet site (ncchoose-life.org) for an online petition and additional information. The billboard is located on the south side of I-40, 3.4 miles west of Hwy. 64 (east of Statesville) for east bound traffic. The billboard has been leased to the Carolina Pregnancy Care Fellowship by Creative Sign Service, Inc. (Shelby, NC) for three months at no charge. CPCF plans to promote more billboards in the state to educate the public on this issue.

For seven years, Representative Mitch Gillespie has introduced the Choose Life license plate in the NC House of Representatives without success. The leadership of the General Assembly has refused to let the Choose Life license plate bill (HB 168) be heard even though North Carolina already has over 130 approved specialty license plates. Funds from these plates would be dedicated to the more than 80 pregnancy care centers in North Carolina who are working tirelessly to offer expectant mothers the support and resources they need.

Bobbie Meyer, President of the Board of Directors of the Carolina Pregnancy Care Fellowship and Executive Director of the Pregnancy Resource Center in Charlotte, expressed frustration with the endless delay, “It is simply unacceptable that North Carolina is the only state in the southeast that won’t allow the Choose Life plate, especially in the midst of so much need.”

NC pregnancy care centers, which last year saw more than 46,000 women and men, offer a variety of free services including pregnancy tests, parenting classes, baby supplies, mentoring pregnant teens, ultrasounds and STD testing by medical personnel. Pregnancy care centers are grassroots organizations begun in communities around NC and depend on donations from individuals and local groups. Especially in these challenging economic times, when funding is being stretched, the funds generated by the Choose Life plate will provide the ability to continue to serve women, men and families with pregnancy-related needs at no taxpayer expense.

America’s Independent Party

From: The Bishops of North Carolina
Subject: CHOOSE LIFE LICENSE PLATE BILL SIDETRACKED IN NC HOUSE
Call To Action
March 2, 2009

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

House Bill 168, which would permit the citizens of North Carolina to purchase a Choose Life license plate to support pregnancy crisis centers throughout the state, has been sent to the House Rules Committee by the Speaker of the House, Joe Hackney of Orange County. The Rules Committee is often the place where bills are sent to die.

We urge you to contact Speaker Hackney, President Pro-Tem of the State Senate, Senator Marc Basnight and your local Representative to ask that HB 168 be permitted a vote in the Rules Committee in order for it to proceed to the next step in the legislative process.

You can contact each of these legislators by going to the link below.

Without our continual pressure, it is unlikely this bill will become law. Thank you for supporting the passage of a law that will assist expectant mothers and their unborn children without any cost to taxpayers.

Sincerely,

The Most Reverend Michael F. Burbidge
Bishop of Raleigh

The Most Reverend Peter J. Jugis
Bishop of Charlotte

Click the link below to log in and send your message:

http://www.votervoice.net/link/target/cvnc29509470.aspx

Unequal Treatment

Unequal Treatment
State Lawmakers Deny Citizens the Opportunity to Buy “Choose Life” Plates

Family North Carolina Magazine—July/August 2009

By Alysse ElHage

In North Carolina, motorists who want to promote their favorite causes can choose from over 120 specialty license plates ranging from “Save the Sea Turtles” to “AIDS Awareness,” and help contribute funds to these causes through their purchase.

Just about everyone from environmentalists to bikers can find a specialty license plate to suit their particular interests. However, if you happen to be one of the thousands of pro-life North Carolinians who want to help raise funds for groups that provide compassionate alternatives to abortion, you are out of luck. A specialty license plate bearing the message “Choose Life” is currently not an option among the state’s 120-plus plates. That is because for the past eight years, legislative leaders have refused to allow an up or down vote on measures that would authorize the State Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to issue a “Choose Life” specialty license plate for North Carolina, thereby denying North Carolinians the option of supporting life by purchasing this special plate.

Not in North Carolina
At a press conference earlier this year, a coalition of pro-life organizations—led by North Carolina Right to Life and North Carolina Pro-Life Democrats—announced the reintroduction of HB 168–“Choose Life” Special Plate in the House by Representative Mitch Gillespie (R-McDowell), and the launch of the “Why Not North Carolina?” campaign. The press conference highlighted the fact that North Carolina is the only state in the southeast to prohibit the sale of “Choose Life” specialty license plates, even though the General Assembly has approved the issuance of over 120 specialty license plates over the years.1

Nationally, “Choose Life” plates are either available or approved in 24 states, most recently in Virginia. Over $10 million has been contributed toward pro-adoption groups as the result of the purchase or renewal of 480,000 plates across the country.2 According to Choose Life, Inc., a non-profit organization that works to help get “Choose Life” plates approved nationwide:3

In Florida, over 300,000 plates have been sold or renewed since they went on sale in 2000, raising $6,314,295.

In Alabama, over 31,000 plates have been sold or renewed through 2009, and over $1.3 million has been raised.

At least two states that allow “Choose Life” plates—Hawaii and Montana—also offer pro-abortion plates. The pro-life plates in both states are outselling the pro-abortion plates by large margins (by 5 to 1 in Hawaii, and nearly 8 to 1 in Montana).4

In addition to the 24 states where “Choose Life” plates are either available or have been approved, pro-life groups in 14 states, including North Carolina, are working to get the specialty license plates issued.5

Legislative History
Rep. Gillespie first introduced legislation that would authorize the state to issue “Choose Life” specialty plates in 2001. Similar bills have been introduced in the House and Senate for the past eight years, but none have been allowed to proceed to the floor of either chamber for a vote. Most of these bills have died in committee without ever seeing any action.

This year, “Choose Life” license plate bills have been introduced in both chambers as HB 168/S210 “Choose Life” Special Plate. Sponsored by Rep. Gillespie in the House and by Senator Austin Allran (R-Iredell) in the Senate, the measures would authorize the State DMV to issue specialty license plates bearing the message, “Choose Life” with an additional fee of $25 per plate. The legislation specifies that $15.00 from the sale of each “Choose Life” license plate will go to the Carolina Pregnancy Care Fellowship (CPCF), a statewide network of pregnancy resource centers (PRCs), which will distribute the funds “annually to nongovernmental, not-for-profit agencies that provide pregnancy services that are limited to counseling and/or meeting the physical needs of pregnant women.” According to the legislation, none of the funds raised from the sale of the “Choose Life” plates may be given to an organization that “provides, promotes, counsels, or refers for abortion…” The measure also requires that the DMV receive at least 300 applications for the “Choose Life” plates before they can be developed.7

Both the House and Senate measures currently reside in committees (HB 168 in the House Rules Committee, and SB 210 in the Senate Finance Committee), where they have not seen any movement since they were introduced earlier this year.7 Because specialty license plates involve spending issues, the legislation is still viable for the remainder of the session.

A Double Standard
As noted earlier, there has been virtually no action in the General Assembly on the “Choose Life” specialty license plates for eight years. In 2009, the House version of the “Choose Life” plate bill was immediately referred to the Rules Committee, which has been dubbed the “graveyard” of the General Assembly, while the overwhelming majority of other specialty license plate bills were referred to either Transportation or Finance.8 Of the nearly 40 other specialty license plate bills that have been introduced this session, over half have passed out of their original committees.9

“Specialty plate bills that are referred to Finance or Transportation are those that will be heard in committee and will probably make it to the floor,” explains Rep. Gillespie. “Most bills referred to Rules are sent there to die a quiet death. They go in the committee and do not resurface unless the leadership releases them.”10

The leadership of the General Assembly has refused to allow the bills to come up for a vote, arguing that the message “Choose Life” promotes a specific political viewpoint.

“We try to stay away from political messages on license plates,” House Majority Leader Hugh Holliman (D-Davidson) told the Asheville Citizen-Times.11

According to Eva Ritchey, House Speaker Joe Hackney (D-Orange) told her in a private meeting in December 2008 that the “Choose Life” license plate was too controversial, and that he was opposed to it because it did not represent a specific organization.12

“That reason is not valid in view of the ‘Sons of Confederate Veterans’ special plate, and the “I Love Animals’ plate for spay and neuter programs,” points out Ritchey. “There is clearly a double standard being applied here.”13

Supporters of the plates counter that there is nothing controversial about the message, “Choose Life,” and that the groups the specialty plates will help fund—such as PRCs—are not political organizations but nonprofit outreach groups that encourage adoption, and provide free and confidential services to pregnant women. Currently, there are 85 PRCs in North Carolina offering services to over 46,000 men and women every year. These services vary and include: pregnancy tests, free ultrasounds (at medical facility PRCs), post-abortion counseling, parenting classes, abstinence education, and baby supplies.14

While some lawmakers continue to label the “Choose Life” plates and the groups they would help fund as too controversial, the State has no problem using taxpayer money to fund politically active, pro-abortion organizations, such as Planned Parenthood. According to reports by the State Auditor in fiscal years, 2006, 2007 and 2008, Planned Parenthood affiliates in North Carolina received thousands of dollars in grants from the State Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).15

Many North Carolinians would be shocked to learn that the State provides money to Planned Parenthood, which is unquestionably one of the most political and controversial organizations in the nation. Not only does Planned Parenthood perform abortions, but it is also among the leading advocates for abortion, and contraceptive-based sex education. While the State uses taxpayer money to give grants to Planned Parenthood, lawmakers continue to deny pro-lifers the opportunity to voluntarily purchase a specialty license plate that will help raise money for the state and non-profit organizations that help reduce abortion. By allowing motorists to purchase specialty license plates bearing the “Choose Life” message, the State would not be funding pro-life groups (though the state does fund pro-choice Planned Parenthood), but simply giving its citizens the option of doing so.

“We are very disappointed that the leadership of the General Assembly has so little regard for pro life citizens in North Carolina,” says Ritchey. “They are willing to allow over a hundred license plates of every description, as well as give state money to Planned Parenthood, but they deny thousands of citizens in North Carolina the opportunity to purchase a voluntary plate that would help pregnant women and their children.”16

Potential Lawsuit
Rather than allow the “Choose Life” specialty license plate legislation to languish in the General Assembly for yet another year, proponents have warned that they may turn to the courts to settle the issue.

“We are hopeful that we will not have to use the courts to get a plate that 24 states have already approved,” says Ritchey. “The courts have overwhelmingly ruled that to deny one plate, while allowing others is viewpoint discrimination and inconsistent with the First Amendment. If the leadership of the General Assembly refuses to grant us fair and equal treatment, then we will be left no alternative than to pursue our rights through the courts, which we intend to do.”17

As recently as 2008 and 2009, federal appeals courts have ordered and upheld the issuance of the “Choose Life” plates in Arizona and Missouri.18 Lawsuits challenging the issuance of the plates have ultimately failed in states such as Florida and Tennessee.19

According to Ritchey, the “Choose Life” specialty license plate coalition is waiting on a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court on whether or not it will hear an appeal in a lawsuit involving “Choose Life” plates in Illinois. At press time, the Supreme Court had not announced its decision.20

“Our courts have stated that our state has a ‘legitimate governmental objective of encouraging childbirth,’” says Barbara Holt, president of North Carolina Right to Life. “The ‘Choose Life’ Specialty Plate fits with that objective because the words ‘Choose Life’ encourage childbirth and the funds generated from the sale of the plate help women who choose to give birth to their babies.”21

Fairness and Justice
“There’s no question that this issue is not just about the life issue. It’s also about fairness and justice,” Ritchey says. “If you have over 100 license plates in the state of North Carolina on every subject from ‘Save the Sea Turtle’ to shag dancing, yet you’re going to tell only one group—the ‘Choose Life’ group—that they can’t have their license plate … That simply is unacceptable.”22

It would seem that many North Carolinians agree. To date, nearly 1,600 individuals have signed an online petition in support of the “Choose Life” specialty plates. The petition, which allows signatories to add comments under their names, will eventually be sent to state lawmakers.23

Proponents of the specialty plates have no plans to back down. Along with the online petition, they have launched a web site, NCChoose-Life.org, to help raise grassroots support and keep the issue of the “Choose Life” license plates alive.24

“North Carolina is the only state from Texas to the Atlantic Ocean and encompassing many of the northeastern states that has not passed the ‘Choose Life’ plates,” says Rep. Gillespie. “With over 100 plates approved from ‘Save the Sea Turtle’ to ‘In God We Trust,’ why North Carolina leaders allow a small vocal minority to exert their influence, I’ll never know. Justice will prevail, and I’ll continue to file this bill.”25

Footnotes

1. North Carolina Family Policy Council, “Rally Calls for Choose Life Plates,” 02/18/09, http://www.ncfamily.org/stories/090218s1.html
2. “Choose Life North Carolina,” Carolina Pregnancy Care Fellowship, see: http://www.ncchoose-life.org/index.php
3. Choose Life, Inc., “Other States,” State Map, http://www.choose-life.org/states.htm.
4. Ibid., http://www.choose-life.org/hawaii.htm and http://www.choose-life.org/montana.htm.
5. Ibid.
6. N.C. General Assembly, HB 168/S 210-“Choose Life Special Plate,” 2009 Session, www.ncleg.net, accessed 6/2/09.
7. Ibid.
8. N.C. General Assembly, 2009 Session, www.ncleg.net.
9. Based on search of NC General Assembly web site, 2009 session, for “special license plate” legislation, www.ncleg.net.
10. Statement from Rep. Mitch Gillespie in response to questions from the author via email 6/3/09.
11. Shrader, Jordan, “Abortion Foes Push for License Plate,” Asheville Citizen-Times, 4/18/09.
12. Email correspondence from Eva Ritchey, NC Pro-Life Democrats, with author, 6/1/09.
13. Ibid.
14. Lehman, Amber, “Women Have Another Choice,” Family North Carolina, Jan/Feb 2007, http://www.ncfamily.org/FNC/0701S1.html.
15. N.C. Office of the State Auditor, Nonprofits, “Private Organizations Receiving State Grant Funds,” Fiscal Year 2008 (tab #17, DHHS, begins at Item # 1877), 2007 (tab #17, begins at Item # 2218), and 2006 (tab #17, begins at item #872) available at: http://www.ncauditor.net/NonProfitSite/search.aspx
16. Op. Cit., Ritchey.
17. Email correspondence from Eva Ritchey with author, 4/16/09.
18. Alliance Defense Fund, Friend-of-the-Court Brief in Choose Life Illinois vs. White, available at: http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/UserDocs/ChooseLifeAmicus.pdf.
19. Ibid. See also: LifeNews.com, “Tennessee Choose Life License Plates Available Starting Next Month,” 11/15/06.
20. Alliance Defense Fund, “ADF Attorneys File Brief with U.S. Supreme Court Supporting ‘Choose Life’ plates,” ADF Press Release, 05/19/09. Also: Op. Cit. ADF Brief.
21. Email correspondence from Barbara Holt with author, dated 5/29/09.
22. Transcript of interview with Eva Ritchey on NCFPC’s “Family Policy Matters,” which aired March 21, 2009.
23. 1,590 signatures as of June 10, 2009: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/ncchooselife/
24. http://www.ncchoose-life.org/index.php
25. Statement from Rep. Mitch Gillespie in response to questions from the author via email, dated June 3, 2009.

Alysse ElHage is associate director of research for the North Carolina Family Policy Council.

Copyright © 2009. North Carolina Family Policy Council. All rights reserved.

NC Pro-Life Democrats

Statement on the Status of the North Carolina Choose Life License Plate

“As the long session of the 2009-2010 General Assembly comes to a close one can only surmise that horses, bees and volleyball mean more to the House of Representatives than the 85 pregnancy care centers that provide compassionate and critical aid to pregnant women and their children. Those are among the license plates that the House has agreed to hear while the Choose Life License Plate is still blockaded by the Democratic leadership in the Rules, Calendar and Operations of the House Committee. While the Choose Life License Plate is not even being allowed to enter the Transportation Committee, the House has considered 33 special license plate bills with only five still remaining in the Transportation Committee. The Senate has either co-sponsored or initiated 26 special license plates including one for native brook trout. The General Assembly has presented bills for 50 new license plates and only one, the Choose Life license plate has been denied a democratic vote for the eigth consecutive year.

Pro-Life Democrats are extremely disappointed in our democratic leadership which has failed to treat the choose life plate fairly thereby preventing the flow of critical dollars to pregnancy care centers. We are the last state left in the Southeast to prevent our citizens from purchasing this voluntary plate.”

North Carolina Pro-Life Democrats Board of Directors

www.northcarolina.democratsforlife.org

Pro-Life Firestone

HB 168 CHOOSE LIFE LICENSE PLATE

LETTER TO THE EDITOR AT THE NEWS AND OBSERVER, RALEIGH, NC

Recently, I had a meeting with Speaker Joe Hackney at which he asserted he would never allow a Choose Life plate in NC. He believes a “firestorm” would be unleashed over the pro-life message on this plate. Does that mean Hackney anticipates pro-abortion advocates bringing the firestorm?

HB 168 would provide non-taxpayer funds to Carolina Pregnancy Care Fellowship, a non-profit organization sharing resources among pregnancy care centers that provide pregnancy counseling, parenting classes, and adoption referrals, gratis to women, men, and families.

Little by little, the NC General Assembly is lowering its standards for equal treatment under the law. This bill is repeatedly buried in committee, and no vote is allowed. Respecting and defending only the rights of those with whom you agree has no merit.

This week Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, President Obama’s choice to chair the DNC, signed VA’s Choose Life license plate bill into law, citing Virginia’s regard for freedom of expression and noting that license plate programs must not discriminate based on the viewpoint expressed by a particular group.

Pro-life advocates, make your message heard in Speaker Hackney’s office now. Tell your state representative you want his/her support for HB 168. Bring the firestorm against censorship.

Claire M. Schweitzer
Fuquay-Varina

(This letter was printed by the N & O on Saturday, April 4, 2009.)

Plea on Plates

From the Raleigh News and Observer, April 25, 2009

As an African-American, I am happy there are 29 African-Americans in the General Assembly. Recently the “Choose Life” special plate bill was assigned to the Rules Committee by House Speaker Joe Hackney. Over 130 other special plates have been authorized by the legislature, and dozens of others have been filed.

The “Choose Life” plate is the only one to be relegated to the House Rules Committee. Here it is expected to die for the eighth year in a row. Two legislators have said that controversial or political plates should not be approved.

It is interesting that one special plate is available and another has been proposed that are political and controversial, especially to African-Americans. The Sons of Confederate Veterans’ specialty plate is available. The recently filed Civil War specialty plate with the proposed words “Freedom-Sacrifice-Memory” has been assigned to the House Transportation and Senate Finance Committees, the normal assignments given to plates seeking approbation.

We have come a long way in 50 years with regard to civil rights and freedom of speech. Many people paid the price of their lives so that African-Americans could enjoy freedom and rights. I ask the 29 African-American legislators to join with those who seek to have the bill for the “Choose Life” plate passed.

Rev. Monsignor Thomas P. Hadden, Roman Catholic Diocese of Raleigh, Raleigh

Puzzled by the Debate

In response to “Give pro-life license plates a fair vote,” (April 23 Viewpoint):

Puzzled by the debate about what’s on N.C. license plates

I can’t wrap my mind around the fact that there is a huge debate about what you support on your license plate.
I’ve been stuck behind cars with plates that read “#1PIMP,” or “I’d rather be shaggin.”
The idea that a Choose Life license plate may be too controversial is lost on me.
There are more than 130 ways to express yourself through your plates in North Carolina Why not add one more?
If we believe so strongly in choosing life, why do we shy away from a plate that stands up for that very thing?
Maybe these folks should quit shaggin’ and start worrying about something with a little more substance.

Jennifer P
Matthews

Give Pro-Life License Plates a Fair Vote

From the Charlotte Observer

Give pro-life license plates a fair vote
By Eva L. Ritchey and Seth Dobson
Special to The Observer
Posted: Thursday, Apr. 23, 2009

What do sea turtles, NASCAR and shag dancing have in common? If your answer is “nothing,” guess again. They are part of the family of more than 130 specialty license plates available in North Carolina. These license plates help support a wide variety of worthy nonprofits and now we have the long-overdue opportunity to include another.

For the eighth consecutive year Rep. Mitch Gillespie, R-McDowell, has introduced a bill authorizing a “Choose Life” license plate for North Carolina. Fifteen dollars from the sale of each plate would directly benefit pregnancy care centers.

Since 1999 when the first “Choose Life” license plate was approved in Florida, 24 states have followed, Virginia being the most recent. More than $10 million has been raised from more than 400,000 plates sold or renewed.

In places such as the Pregnancy Resource Center of Charlotte and Room at the Inn, women of varied backgrounds, often under pressure from others to abort, come to find counsel and material aid. There are more than 85 support centers in North Carolina and there is never an overabundance of money for these worthwhile “islands” of mercy.

Should North Carolina be the only state in the Southeast that doesn’t allow this plate? We are now. For more than seven years various tactics have been used to prevent it from becoming law. We hope that Speaker Joe Hackney, who opposes it, will allow it out of the Rules Committee, where it is currently blockaded, and to the floor for a democratic vote.

The objection has been raised that this is a “controversial” plate and as such should not be allowed. However, there are many who would view the already approved “Sons of Confederate Veterans” with its stars and bars insignia the same way. In a diverse and free state, North Carolinians understand they will not always agree with every message they encounter.

While our courts have stated in Rosie J. v. NC DHS that there is a “legitimate governmental objective of encouraging childbirth,” North Carolina continues to prevent individuals from expressing that viewpoint.

Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia, chair of the National Democratic Party, recently signed legislation approving the Choose Life plate in Virginia and said, “The clear trend of [recent court] decisions was if the state allows plates that have messages … once a state does that, these plates should be allowed.”

In an e-mail to our legislators last year, Planned Parenthood characterized pregnancy care centers as providing, “… misinformation, intimidation, coercion, or harassment to women seeking reproductive health care.” Bobbie Meyer, executive director of the Pregnancy Resource Center of Charlotte, sees it differently. She points out that the use of “manipulation and graphic images” would violate the standards set forth by Care Net, a network of more than 1,100 centers: “We respect a woman’s right to make an informed decision – her own decision without any type of coercion. Women frequently comment about the compassionate, supportive way in which we serve them…”

It may be that Planned Parenthood’s opposition to the “Choose Life” plate is because Planned Parenthood, a so-called nonprofit, is a business that, according to its 2006-2007 annual report, received $336 million in government funding out of its $1.017 billion in revenue. It performed 289,650 abortions compared to 2,413 adoption referrals and prenatal care for only 11,058 women.

The Democratic Party prides itself as being the party of equal justice. Is it fair and equal treatment to allow 130 license plates and deny the Choose Life plate? Is it wise to penalize more than 85 pregnancy care centers who last year served more than 46,000 women and men at no taxpayer expense?

Thousands of N.C. citizens are only asking for the right to have a plate that would promote alternatives. Our state already allows “Save the Sea Turtles.” Shouldn’t we also give citizens the right to buy a plate that says “Choose Life”?

Ritchey is president of N.C. Pro-Life Democrats.