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'Choose Life' license plates
A group opposed to abortion has won approval from the Iowa Department of Transportation to order state-issued license plates with a ?Choose Life? message.
?This is great news for Iowa?s unborn,? said state Rep. Matt Windschitl, R-Missouri Valley, a proponent of the plates. He added that he hopes the plates will help Iowans understand ?that each innocent life is a gift from God.?
Iowa becomes the 29th state to approve a variation of the Choose Life plate, which will include a drawing of two smiling children. The national effort is promoted by a Florida-based group known as Choose Life America, while the campaign here is sponsored by Iowa Right to Life, a Des Moines-based anti-abortion organization.
Although the DOT issues dozens of specialty plates for breast cancer awareness, military service, state universities and colleges, ?God Bless America,? and many other subjects, this is the first involving an issue as sensitive as abortion.
The agency prohibits politically oriented specialty plates that specifically endorse a political candidate, but officials don?t believe the Choose Life message violates its criteria, said DOT spokeswoman Dena Gray-Fisher. If groups supporting other politically sensitive topics ? such as freedom of choice or gay rights ? want license plates promoting their causes, their applications also will be considered, she said.
Officials with Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, Iowa?s largest provider of abortion services, declined to comment Thursday. State Rep. Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, D-Ames, an abortion-rights advocate, said the DOT?s decision ?complicates things a little bit.? Although she has some concerns about using state-issued license plates to promote a particular issue, she said she wants to be sensitive to free speech.
The Choose Life message is intended to make a softer, nonconfrontational statement about abortion, said Jenifer Bowen, executive director of Iowa Right to Life.
?It is hopefully invoking something in the people who see it that there are other choices,? she said. ?It is definitely not abrasive or offensive.?
The opportunity for Iowa motorists to secure Choose Life plates wouldn?t have been possible without help from Republican Gov. Terry Branstad, a longtime abortion foe, Bowen said.
Supporters unsuccessfully had sought legislation to use the plates over the past decade. But Branstad, who returned to office in January 2011, helped secure approval through administrative channels, Bowen said.
Branstad spokesman Tim Albrecht confirmed that the governor?s office helped the plate?s supporters navigate the bureaucratic process. ?Governor Branstad is pro-life, and the advocates for the plates met Iowa Code requirements,? he said.
Under DOT rules, proponents have one year to obtain 500 applications for the plates, which cost $25 more than regular fees for motor vehicle registrations. Bowen said she anticipates no problem securing the applications, noting that more than 50 people immediately expressed interest Thursday morning after the plans were announced.
Randall Wilson, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa, said the only ?raised eyebrow? he has about the Choose Life plates is whether Branstad might have bent the rules for one organization because he agrees with its message more than others. ?But all things being on the up and up, we agree that anyone should be able to get a specialty plate,? he added.
The national effort for Choose Life plates has led to about a dozen lawsuits, both by groups opposing the plates and by organizations seeking them, said Russ Amerling, a leader of Choose Life America. All but two cases ? in New York and North Carolina ? have been resolved, he said. In some states, a portion of the license plate fees are designated for ?life affirming? pregnancy centers, maternity homes and nonprofit adoption agencies. But in Iowa, all of the additional fees will be directed to the state?s road construction fund.
Re: 'Choose Life' license plates
Interesting that they use the word "choose"...
Hmm...choice...who is it that's in favor of choice, again?
I think that's what bothers me the most, feeling hounded and judged around every corner.
BOOOM
"I choose death"
The agency prohibits politically oriented specialty plates that specifically endorse a political candidate, but officials don?t believe the Choose Life message violates its criteria, said DOT spokeswoman Dena Gray-Fisher. If groups supporting other politically sensitive topics ? such as freedom of choice or gay rights ? want license plates promoting their causes, their applications also will be considered, she said.
Are those against the pro-life license plate also opposed to a potential gay rights license plate?
Persoanlly, I don't do message license plates or bumper stickers (actaully I don't do any bumper stickers), but I really don't see the issue with those who want to do this....for whatever message they happen to support.
I can't get too ruffled about this, because a person buys their own license plate, do they not?
My neighbour up here has a pro-life license plate. I didn't bring her any cookies when she moved into the neighbourhood
For some reason it doesn't bother me that much & I am normally easily annoyed.
I used to have a Donate Life license plate to promote organ donor awareness. It's doubtful anyone changed their stance or decided to donate because of it, but it'd be cool if it did. I mostly got it because getting one was more expensive and the extra went as donation to promote organ donor awareness and I felt some solidarity when I saw others with the same plate.
We also have a "Garden State" plate. I guess we're pushing our pro-vegetable agenda.
I think Pennsylvania and Montana do, at least according to a quick google search.
I personally think the plates are ridiculous - I don't understand how a crayon-drawing of two kids is supposed to make me suddenly anti-abortion - but i do roll my eyes over using the term 'choose' in the plate. Oh, suddenly choice is good?
I'm from Virginia, the state with the most personalized license plates anywhere, so this doesn't sound weird to me.
And we do have a pro-choice license plate here.
Valid point
Interesting - I didn't realize they had those.
I completely agree with your second paragraph. Like, "I was going to have an abortion but then I saw this license plate and decided against it."
Theyre available in 25 states.
http://www.choose-life.org/
yay youre back
Oddly enough, Virginia actually does: http://www.dmv.state.va.us/exec/vehicle/splates/info.asp?idnm=TWRC
Of course, they also have a Sons of Confederate Vets plate as well. (And my twisted sense of humor did enjoy that they have a motorcycle version of the Organ Donor plate).
that's a link to the choose life page showing which states have pro-'life' plates - not pro-choice plates.
We love the gays here! It's not so bad.
See my above post. We have every cause ever in VA.
I agree, Iowa can be a good time.
It's one of few states you spend your morning commute waving and smiling at every driver you encounter. People are way too nice here.
Not related, but I just saw a hilarious Virginia license plate on a website this morning:
Stop. it. LOL!
that is fantastic.
No one ever wants to play when I ask why is the baby white?
Above Us Only Sky
i see message plates as warnings to others that you're a sh!tty driver, no matter what the message.