State Legislature to vote on “Choose Life” License Plates
(Columbus, OH) - In an outrageous back-room maneuver, anti-choice legislators inserted a controversial measure to create “Choose Life” license plates into SB 156, a highway naming bill. Though not currently on the schedule, this bill could receive a full vote of the Ohio House as soon as Tuesday and the Ohio Senate on Wednesday. This amendment would create “Choose Life” license plates in Ohio. The plates are designed to raise money to fund anti-choice crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs). Funds raised would not be available to any organization that provides women with unbiased counseling or referrals for abortion services. In 1993, Ohio Attorney General Lee Fisher found that five crisis pregnancy centers in the state “violate the law by advertising themselves as clinics when they are not medical facilities, provide no medical services and have no doctors on staff.” CPCs refuse to provide abortion referrals and discourage women from using birth control. Currently, there are over 175 CPCs operating in Ohio. Six states “Choose Life” license plate statutes have been challenged on First or Fourteenth Amendment grounds. Courts have declared two of the statutes – Louisiana and South Carolina’s—unconstitutional. If Ohio’s “Choose Life” license plates are found unconstitutional, Ohio could be barred from selling any specialty license plates—thus putting funding for many worthwhile causes in jeopardy.
NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio Executive Director Kellie Copeland said, “This is yet another attempt by those who oppose abortion to stigmatize the procedure and further intimidate women who may opt to terminate their pregnancies. The Ohio Legislature should focus on common sense measures to prevent unintended pregnancy and reduce the need for abortion, like the Contraceptive Equity bill that has been blocked from even being assigned to a committee for a hearing. This move highlights the true agenda of the far right, which controls the Ohio Legislature and the Governor’s Mansion - eliminating a woman’s right to choose. However, they do so in a sneaky back-door fashion because they know the majority of Ohioans are pro-choice and would not stand for such infringements on their rights. ” # # # Contact: Kellie Copeland 216-283-2180
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