If you drive down America’s highways, sooner or later you’ll see a license plate bearing the message “Choose Life.” Even Maryland, home of some of America’s most fervent liberals, makes such a plate available. (Delaware is in the process of making their own version available, probably later this year.)
The commonwealth of Virginia has had Choose Life plates available for some time, but, according to an AP story by Dena Potter in today’s Washington Times, their legislature now faces the question of making a similar pro-choice (read: pro-abortion) plate available. The revenue from these proposed plates, which bear the message, “Trust Women…Respect Choice” would benefit Planned Parenthood.
For their part, Planned Parenthood claims the revenue ($15 per plate after the first 1,000 are sold) wouldn’t go to pay for abortions but to cover their other services.
But the argument is disingenuous because money is a fungible asset – adding money to pay for cancer screenings frees up Planned Parenthood to funnel money into paying the doctors who perform the abortions. This logic is what places newly elected Governor Bob McDonnell on the anti-plate side despite the threat of legal action.
On the other hand, funds raised by “Choose Life” plates go to crisis pregnancy centers and adoption services.
There’s no question that people are willing to pay a little extra for their license plates to promote a message or point of view, and generally part of the fees collected go to support the entity sponsoring the plate. In most states, the biggest benefactors of these specialty plates are colleges and universities where plates bear their logo or are designed to reflect school colors. (Maryland is an exception; our largest sellers are Chesapeake Bay-related tags.) Aside from a rivalry aspect these collegiate plates are fairly non-controversial.
But when the subject is as controversial as abortion, perhaps it’s time to step back and question the wisdom of having a plate which benefits a particular entity like Planned Parenthood. Perhaps a better alternative might be to have this benefit other womens’ health initiatives like prenatal services for high-risk pregnant women. After all, one choice would be to carry through with pregnancy and that choice seems to one least respected by those the plates would be marketed to.
Needless to say, should the pro-choice plate legislation be defeated the venue will certainly become that of the courts, as supporters peg the question as a First Amendment issue. Yet the question isn’t one of making the plate available, the question is about who benefits. Resolve that question in a way which both sides can agree to and without benefitting an abortion provider, and I’d have no problem with the plate being made available. Just don’t count on a lot of people buying them.
I actually oppose all of these message and vanity plates for this very reason. License plates should be government ids for cars and trucks, and that alone. Period. If someone wants to turn their vehicle into a moving billboard for their views, let them mount a bumper sticker, or sign, or flag, of pain the entire thing.
Get government out of deciding what messages should go on license plates, period, but not making license plates about messages.