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Pro-Abortion License Plate?

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Frank Shannon

Published: February 27, 2007

The pro-abortion crowd wants its own license plate.

Take a look at the rear ends of cars in your church parking lot on any given Sunday and the odds are that you'll see a healthy number of Choose Life plates. That's been my weekly observation at Nativity. The same can be said for Bell Shoals Baptist, and I've noticed equal devotion at St. Stephen's and First Baptist of Brandon, among other churches.

For almost eight years, the distinctive yellow Choose Life plate has been among the most popular of Florida's specialty license tags. Originally submitted before the state legislature by Brandon's own Sen. Tom Lee in 1998, it was vetoed by former Gov. Lawton Chiles.

The law was later resubmitted, passed, and finally signed into law by former Gov. Jeb Bush in 1999, the plate raises money to support the adoption efforts of organizations that affirm the sanctity of life and offer alternatives to abortion such as pregnancy resource centers, maternity homes, and certain non-profit agencies that extend free help to women in crisis pregnancies.

"In the first year, it sold over 24,000 and raised almost $500,000," said Russ Amerling of Choose Life Inc., the organization that spearheaded the plate's trip from concept to law.

Now pro-abortion activists want their own plate. Whether or not their cause will yield the same level of grass roots support as the Choose Life plate to warrant consideration by the legislature is another matter. Passage by the Republican-dominated legislature is even more unlikely, but such is the makeup of the legislature that the voters of Florida have voted into office.

The idea of a pro-abortion license plate was hatched by the Orlando chapter of the National Organization for Women. NOW, along with Planned Parenthood and the National Abortion Rights Action League, is among the foremost of pro-abortion groups.

The proposed tag features a supposedly patriotic motif, a red "mother star" with a white star baby superimposed and three blue stars seemingly floating skyward. Do the blue stars represent aborted babies heading to heaven, and is this 3-to-1ratio indicative of the preferences of the abortion industry with regard to the number of babies aborted as opposed to those who survive the womb? Currently the numbers are reversed, with some estimates indicating that one in four pregnancies is ended by abortion. That's 25 percent. One quarter.

A little truth in advertising might be problematic for the pro-abortion crowd. A license plate accurately depicting images of aborted babies would be a bit too graphic for public display.

While proceeds from the sale of the Choose Life plate goes to promoting adoption, what would the pro-abortion plate revenue fund? NOW claims the intent of the pro-abortion plate will be "to fund agencies and organizations that provide information on all reproductive choices." Oh really? Do those "choices" include abortions for minors without the knowledge or consent of their parents? Or maybe birth control for minors, again without parental consent?

Perhaps they'll use some of the funds to provide mental health counseling to women who've had abortions. In the aftermath of virtually every abortion, women suffer everything from distress and depression to alcohol and drug abuse, even suicide. Emotional consequences usually happen sooner rather than later, but it's not uncommon for some women to be overwhelmed with regret sometimes years after an abortion, especially once they've married and are in the process of starting a family. Thoughts of the baby they aborted come crashing in and they feel the full weight of the consequences of their actions.

This small corner of the abortion debate will remain, hopefully, mere speculation. Passage of the Choose Life plate, a symbol and celebration of the sanctity of life, was an easy sell eight years ago. A pro-abortion plate, on the other hand, represents the 40 million innocent lives that have been snuffed out since Roe v. Wade was fabricated into the "law of the land" in 1973, an infamy suitable for mourning rather than celebrating.

Frank Shannon is a longtime conservative activist and writer. He can be contacted at FXShannon@aol.com.

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