Michigan lawmakers gave final approval to a bill Thursday that would allow drivers to buy pro-life license plates for their cars.
The AP reports the bill soon will head to Gov. Rick Snyder’s desk after the House approved it Thursday.
The “Choose Life” license plates will be available for $35, and some of the money will be used to support life-saving organizations.
“… the proceeds would go towards a special Choose Life fund, that would support life affirming services such as the services that you would find at a pregnancy resource center,” said state Sen. Patrick Colbeck, the lead sponsor of the bill. “They take care of mothers facing unplanned pregnancy, provide for daily needs.”
Colbeck said some of the funds also will support suicide prevention services.
“This is not something that’s hateful, going off and providing mothers with the resources that they needed. It’s a very positive message and it’s something that I hope everyone would get behind,” he added.
Michigan abortion activists lobbied against the legislation.
According to the Right to Life of Michigan, which supports the bill, the Planned Parenthood abortion chain opposes the bill because it will allow drivers to help pro-life pregnancy centers. At the same time, the abortion chain is demanding that taxpayers be forced to continue giving it money.
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“Choose Life” license plates are available in 29 states, according to the organization that promotes the effort. Michigan and Nebraska are slated to become the 30th and 31st states after the Nebraska legislature passed a pro-life license plate bill in April.
The “Choose Life” organization reports the license plates have raised millions of dollars to help pregnant and parenting families and adoptions. In the Midwest, Indiana raised $650,000, and Ohio raised more than $500,000 through the specialty plates. Both states have more than 25,000 vehicles with “Choose Life” plates, according to the organization.
In 2016, North Carolina won a long court battle when the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that its “Choose Life” license plates, approved by the legislature in 2011, are constitutional.
The battle over the North Carolina plates went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2015, LifeNews reported. The high court ordered the 4th Circuit Court, which previously struck down the law, to reconsider the case in light of the Supreme Court’s decision in another license plate case, Walker v. Texas Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans.
