Florida Abortion Advocates Seek Designs for Pro-Abortion License Plate
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
April 26, 2006
Orlando, FL (LifeNews.com) — Abortion advocates in Florida are sponsoring a nationwide art contest to come up with a design for a pro-abortion license plate. The campaign is meant to put plates on Florida vehicles that challenge the Choose Life plates which have existed for years and raised millions to help pregnancy centers provide help for women.
Florida’s Orlando NOW affiliate is sponsoring the contest from now until September 1, 2006 after which three finalists will have their artwork shown and judged at an area art gallery.
The winner’s design will become an emblem of the pro-abortion group in their effort to secure approval for the specialty plate from the Florida State House.
In a statement provided to LifeNews.com, the group decried the Choose Life plates, which have, as of February, raised over $4 million to help pregnant women.
"At the same time, pro-choice motorists are denied the opportunity to express their views on a government issued specialty license plate," the NOW chapter said. Abortion advocates lost a case in March 2003 to overturn the Choose Life plates.
The group hopes to sell enough plates to show pro-life groups "that they are not in the majority" and funds from the plates are slated to go towards "reproductive health and abortion services."
"Seeing the anti-choice rhetoric displayed on over 40,000 cars in Florida prompted us to take a proactive stance," Orlando NOW vice president Cicely Scheiner said. "We need to be heard, and our supporters have the right to display their message, just as the other side is displaying theirs."
Jenna Cawley, President of Orlando NOW, complained that the local group is taking the actions because the state organization is dragging its feet following the court loss.
"It has taken three years for Florida NOW to realize that it’s in our best interest to fight for a plate of our own," she said.
Choose Life, Inc. is the brainchild of Marion County Commissioner Randy Harris. Back in 1996, he was driving behind a vehicle with a specialty license plate when he envisioned a specialty plate with the Choose Life tag line. The Florida Choose Life license plate went on sale in August of 2000.
According to Harris, such license plates are now on the road not only in Florida, but in Louisiana, Oklahoma, Hawaii, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Maryland, South Dakota, and Montana and are under consideration in 32 other states.
Only Montana and Hawaii have pro-abortion license plates, and in Hawaii abortion advocates use stickers instead.
Related web sites:
Choose Life – https://www.choose-life.org
