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Choose Life license plates are specialty license plates available in 33[1][2] states in the United States that express an anti-abortion message. The plates are the concept of Choose Life, Inc., an anti-abortion advocacy group based in Ocala, Florida.[3] It was founded in 1997 by Randy Harris, a Marion County commissioner, after being inspired by an environmental license plate on the car in front of him to use specialty license plates as a way to raise funds for crisis pregnancy centers.[4] The plates feature the phrase "Choose Life", a slogan used by the anti-abortion movement, and a Microsoft Paint style drawing of two children.[4]

Sample Florida Choose Life tag

History

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In 1997, Choose Life, Inc. collected the 10,000 signatures and US$30,000 required under Florida law at the time to submit an application for a new specialty plate, and State Senator Tom Lee sponsored a bill in support of the tag's creation.[4] The bill passed both houses of the Florida Legislature in early 1998, but was vetoed by then-Governor Lawton Chiles, who stated that license plates are not the "proper forum for debate" on political issues.[4][5] While campaigning for the governorship later in 1998, Jeb Bush stated that, if elected, he would sign a Choose Life bill if approved by the legislature.[4] Choose Life, Inc. went forward with the plate application again, and, after passing both houses, Governor Bush signed it into law on June 8, 1999.[4][6][7] Since then, Choose Life, Inc. has been active in helping groups in other states pursue "Choose Life" license plates.[8][9] As of April 30, 2010, Choose Life, Inc. reported that Choose Life license plates had raised over $12 million.[10] On June 21, 2011, Florida Governor Rick Scott signed House Bill 501, which directs the funds from the plates directly to Choose Life, Inc.[11]

Choose Life, Inc. is a non-profit organization, funded by donations and the sale of promotional items, such as T-shirts and neckties.[4][9] A specialty license plate can cost an additional $25 – $70USD per year. Allocation of funds varies by state but funds typically go to crisis pregnancy centers.

States with Choose Life license plates

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As of 2023, Choose Life license plates are available in 34 states and the District of Columbia:[2]

  • Alabama
  • Alaska[12]
  • Arizona
  • Arkansas
  • Connecticut
  • Delaware
  • District of Columbia[13]
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Hawaii
  • Idaho
  • Indiana
  • Iowa
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Louisiana
  • Maryland
  • Massachusetts[14]
  • Mississippi
  • Missouri
  • Montana [15]
  • Nebraska (2017)[16]
  • New Jersey[17]
  • North Carolina (2016)[18]
  • North Dakota
  • Ohio
  • Oklahoma
  • Pennsylvania
  • South Carolina
  • South Dakota
  • Tennessee
  • Texas[19]
  • Utah
  • Virginia
  • Wisconsin (2016)[20]

States where Choose Life has been rejected

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  • Michigan: In 2017, Gov. Rick Snyder vetoed a bill proposing the plates, citing "the potential to bitterly divide millions of Michiganders".[21]
  • New York: For several years, litigation occurred between the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) and the Department of Motor Vehicles. The original decision not to offer the specialty plates was overruled, but the issuance of the plates was held back pending an appeal in 2011.[22] After more litigation, in 2015 the New York Department of Motor Vehicles' policy to exclude controversial, politically sensitive messages from plates was “reasonable and viewpoint neutral, which is all that the First Amendment requires" according to the 2nd Circuit majority opinion.[23] After the decision in Walker v. Texas Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans, which gave states the right to determine whatever speech they want or do not want on plates issued by their state, no further appeal of the 2nd District decision was made by the ADF.
  • Rhode Island: Gov. Lincoln Chafee vetoed a bill proposing the plates, citing the inappropriateness of using state license plates to fund religious initiatives.[1]

Reaction and criticism

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"Choose Life" license plates have been criticized by abortion rights organizations, which have argued that in authorizing them, but not offering plates conveying a pro-abortion rights message at the same time, states have carried out viewpoint discrimination.[24][25] To this charge, Russ Amerling, Choose Life, Inc.'s publicity coordinator, replied that "[abortion rights groups] have just as much right to have a plate as we do, as long as they go through the same process we did and not try to piggy-back onto the various states' Choose Life bills". He also said that no "[abortion rights groups] have ever applied for a plate of their own in any state, until an [anti-abortion group] applied for a 'Choose Life' plate."[9]

Before June 2015, the United States Supreme Court had not yet clearly spoken on the legality of "Choose Life" specialty plates, and the federal circuits were split on their legality.[26] The 4th Circuit had twice held that issuing an anti-abortion plate but not a pro-abortion rights plate is impermissible viewpoint discrimination,[18][27] but the 6th Circuit held the opposite.[28] The 2nd and 7th Circuits had ruled that states could refrain from allowing any discussion of abortion on plates.[29][30] When Walker v. Texas Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans was rendered in June 2015, however, it allowed states to determine whether it wants controversial language on their plates or not, including pro- or anti-abortion rights language, which precluded further litigation in New York against having the plates as had been decided a month earlier in the 2nd District,[29] or further litigation in North Carolina for the plates, where the interpretation of the 4th Circuit that it was viewpoint discrimination to have one and not the other was reversed in 2016 after a review was demanded by the Supreme Court in light of Walker.[18]

As of 2011, five states currently offer license plates which promote abortion rights: Alaska, Hawaii, Montana, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.[31]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "'Choose Life' License Plate Vetoed By Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee". AP. July 17, 2013. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016.
  2. ^ a b Choose-Life.org, accessed September 2017
  3. ^ Palmer, Alyson M. (April 6, 2006). "'Choose Life' License Tag May Hit a Bump in the Road." Fulton County Daily Report. Retrieved June 23, 2007.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Gielow Jacobs, Leslie. (2001). Free Speech and the Limits of Legislative Discretion: The Example of Specialty License Plates Archived September 12, 2006, at the Wayback Machine. Florida Law Review, 53 (3), 419-432.
  5. ^ Lithwick, Dahlia. (February 6, 2003). "Poetic Licenses." Slate. Retrieved June 23, 2007.
  6. ^ "Florida approves `Choose Life' license plate." (November 24, 1999). The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved June 23, 2007.
  7. ^ Olszonowicz, Deborah. (September 1999). Motor Vehicle Registration and License Plates. Retrieved June 23, 2007.
  8. ^ Burge, Kathleen. (May 5, 2006). "Driving force." Boston Globe. Retrieved June 23, 2007.
  9. ^ a b c Madigan, Erin. (November 25, 2002). "Choose Life Car Tags Spark Debate." Stateline.org. Retrieved June 24, 2007.
  10. ^ Choose Life, Inc. (June 18, 2010). Choose Life Newsletter Archived May 28, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved June 18, 2010.
  11. ^ Virginia Chamlee, June 22, 2011, Scott signs ‘Choose Life’ bill into law http://floridaindependent.com/35692/rick-scott-choose-life%5B%5D
  12. ^ "Personalized License Plate". online.dmv.alaska.gov. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  13. ^ "The "Choose Life" License Plate is Approved in Washington,D.C." (Press release). The Children First Foundation. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
  14. ^ Wangsness, Lisa. (June 18, 2010). "Antiabortion message for specialty plate." Boston Globe. Retrieved June 18, 2010.
  15. ^ "Options Clinic". Montana Department of Justice, Motor Vehicle Division. 20 February 2020. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  16. ^ "Ricketts signs bill creating 'Choose Life' specialty license plates". Omaha World-Herald. 6 April 2017. Retrieved September 17, 2017.
  17. ^ "The New Jersey Choose Life License Plate is Now Available". The Children First Foundation. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
  18. ^ a b c "Court rules whether N.C. can make "Choose Life" plates". CBS News. 10 March 2016. Retrieved September 17, 2017.
  19. ^ "TxDMV-Special Plate Order Application". rts.texasonline.state.tx.us. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  20. ^ "Controversial pro-life license plate approved". Appleton Post-Crescent. Retrieved September 17, 2017.
  21. ^ Lawler, Emily (2017-06-30). "Gov. Rick Snyder vetoes bill that would have allowed 'choose life' license plates". MLive. Retrieved September 17, 2017.
  22. ^ ‘Choose Life’ plates win a round, Rick Karlin, November 9, 2011, "Capitol Confidential" Times-Union
  23. ^ NY can ban 'Choose Life' license plates as DMV program upheld, Jonathan Stempel, May 22, 2015, Reuters
  24. ^ Hurst, Sarah E. (2003). A One Way Street to Unconstitutionality: The “Choose Life” Specialty License Plate. Ohio State Law Journal, 64 (3), 957-998. Retrieved June 24, 2007.
  25. ^ The Center for Reproductive Rights. (August 2002). "Choose Life" License Plates Archived July 1, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved June 24, 2007.
  26. ^ W. Alexander Evans (April 2008). "License to Discriminate: 'Choose Life' License Plates and the Government Speech Doctrine". Nevada Law Journal. William S. Boyd School of Law, UNLV, Las Vegas, Nevada. Retrieved July 3, 2013.
  27. ^ United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (March 22, 2004). "Planned Parenthood of S.C. Inc. v. Rose, 361 F.3d 786 (4th Cir. 2004)". Retrieved July 3, 2013.
  28. ^ United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (March 17, 2006). "ACLU of Tenn. v. Bredesen, 441 F.3d 370 (6th Cir. 2006)". Retrieved July 3, 2013.
  29. ^ a b United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (May 22, 2015). "Children First Foundation, Inc. v. Fiala, 790 F. 3d 328 (2nd Cir. 2015)". Retrieved September 19, 2017.
  30. ^ United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (November 7, 2008). "Choose Life Illinois, Inc. v. White, 547 F.3d 853 (7th Cir. 2008)". Retrieved July 3, 2013.
  31. ^ Potter, Dena (May 25, 2011). "Pro-Choice License Plate Advocated In Virginia: Supporters Threaten Lawsuit". The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2012.
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