Tenn. 'Choose Life' plate challenged

[soup]

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood on Thursday sued to stop Tennessee from issuing specialty license plates with a "Choose Life" message.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court, contends the license plate discriminates against residents with an opposing viewpoint because there is no car tag available with their message.

"The state of Tennessee has opened a state-created forum to one viewpoint alone in the public controversy over abortion," the lawsuit says.

Tennessee ACLU executive director Hedy Weinberg said an attempt on the Senate floor to amend the bill to create a license plate with an opposing message was defeated.
http://www.sptimes.com/2003/11/07/Worldandnation/Tenn__Choose_Life__pl.shtml

Questions-
Are the states' Constitutions so different that these plates can be found legal in one state, but not another? Does anyone know where the difference lies? What made them unconstitutional in Louisiana?

side note-
The tags were challenged in Florida, but the backers for the plates won.

warning-
the article uses the words pro-abortionists and pro-abortion, rather than pro-choice. Take the blood pressure meds BEFORE reading.

[Hep]

1. What's the problem

I see choose life bumper stickers everywhere. What's the big deal? For once they are granting OUR premise, that there has to be a CHOICE. What choice they advocate is up to them. These kinds of controversy are what give the ACLU a bad reputation.

[soup]

4. But aren't the Choose Life groups Anti-choice?

The funds collected go to anti-abortion organizations.

The groups that advocate 'Choose Choice' have been denied plates.

There is no choice in Choose Life.

Sorry- I'm looking at my post and seeing the word choose repeated so many times, not sure I'm making any sense.

geesh- edited to change all my choses to chooses.

[Hep]

5. I really don't know!

I'm just not offended by the message because they seem to recognize that it IS a choice.

But if money goes to organizations that oppose reproductive rights, then we have a problem.

[soup]

9. Looks like we have a problem-

(beyond the demands of a VERY fluffy calico cat vying for my undivided attention. She is apolitical and pro-petting. Somehow she reset something on my keyboard so when I type, it covers over anything that comes after. Did she mess up an insert key or something? Silly Lily...)

Florida-
Funds may not be distributed to any agency that is involved or associated with abortion activities, including counseling for or referrals to abortion clinics, providing medical abortion-related procedures, or pro-abortion advertising, and funds may not be distributed to any agency that charges women for services received.
http://www.choose-life.org/bill.html

Oklahoma-
4. What are the proceeds of the Choose Life License Plate to be used for?

The proceeds are a method of encouraging and supporting women who choose adoption. The funds are accumulated in a Choose Life Assistance Program Revolving fund to be distributed annually in the form of grants to non-profit agencies that help women in crisis pregnancies and do not counsel or refer for abortions. 60% of the funds are for direct support for the women and 40% are used for counselor training and materials.
http://www.ecognizant.net/okchooselife/aboutchooselife.tcl

Here's an interesting site:
Six states, backed by politicians and legislators, are selling "Choose Life" license plates and using the proceeds to help fund the distribution of biased medical and anti-choice information.
http://www.crlp.org/pub_fac_licplates.html

also from the above site- Court cases and decisions-
The Center for Reproductive Rights is involved in legal challenges to specialty license plates bearing the legend "Choose Life" which have appeared in an increasing number of states. These cases raise constitutional issues which include the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech and the separation of church and state.
http://www.crlp.org/crt_cen_plates.html

[Lurking Dem]

8. Bumper stickers are personal

whereas license plates are state government. The "Choose Life" groups also have nothing whatsoever to do with "choice", they are anti-abortion groups.

[mdmc]

11. exactly

As long as the choice is protected, the plate should be allowed. Its not a "outlaw abortion" or "overturn roe v. wade" statement.

What would FRANKIE say? :~)

What choicers should be spinning is, "what are ya'll doing to reduce abortion rates (adopting, safe sex ed, funding health care) besides buying a vanity plate?"

We all want to reduce abortion rates. Overturning Roe is not the best way to do it. Support choice, support action!

[Parabura]

2. Then shouldn't anti-wildlife plates be available?

After all, many states have plates featuring pro-wildlife themes.

[eyesroll]

3. If these groups really wanted to promote adoption, they'd have

"Choose Adoption" instead.
Nobody would argue with that. No controversy. Just about everyone agrees that adoption is a good thing.

But, no.

(In many states, the extra $ for the "Choose life" plates goes toward improving adoption. I don't know about this one.)

[slappypan]

6. Why must license plates be a means of self-expression?

Why can't they just identify the car as they were invented to do?

[soup]

10. Seem to recall the highway patrol

having a problem with the personalized plates as well.
Something about making it more difficult to identify a tag.

and yes, your point really makes sense. *sigh- remembering road trips as a child and spotting tags from different states.

[eyesroll]

13. My parents made that a game for my sister and me

We took this three-week road trip through Canada and the Eastern U.S., and my dad gave us both lists of every state and province, and whoever spotted the most, won.
My sister grew bored quickly, so I won by default. I got everything except Hawaii and Prince Edward Island, IIRC.

[noonwitch]

7. We had a controversy about personalized numbers on plates

A few years back, a woman wanted her plate to spell 4RU-486. The Secretary of State (Candace Miller(R), now a congresswoman) said no. The woman stated that people had plates spelling out antiabortion slogans, so it was wrong to discriminate. I don't think she was allowd to get her plate, but am not sure what the ultimate outcome was.

[Kolesar]

12. "ATHEIST" was prohibited in one state

Where do we live anyway? The Iranian Islamic Republic?

[funkyflathead]

14. Why can't they have a Planned Parenthood plate?

Is anyone stopping a pro-choice plate from being issued?

[Lurking Dem]

16. You won't get the signatures

needed to put it before the legislature.

No one in Tennessee would want a pro choice tag on their car even if they're pro choice. Your insurance rates would go through the roof with the bricks thrown through windsheilds, getting run off the road, keyed in the parking lot, etc., etc.

[KFC]

15. George Michael is probably pissed

GoGo!