North Carolina barred from issuing "Choose Life" license plates

[The Straight Story]

North Carolina barred from issuing "Choose Life" license plates

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina (Reuters) - A federal judge has permanently blocked North Carolina from issuing an anti-abortion specialty license plate, ruling that offering plates with a "Choose Life" slogan without an alternative supporting abortion rights is unconstitutional.

The lack of a plate promoting reproductive freedom in the state constitutes "viewpoint discrimination in violation of the First Amendment," Senior U.S. District Judge James C. Fox said on Friday.

The judge previously granted a preliminary injunction sought by the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina, which had argued the state should not be allowed to distribute specialty plates offering only one point of view on the abortion debate.

"This is a great victory for the free speech rights of all North Carolinians, regardless of their point of view on reproductive freedom," Chris Brook, legal director of the ACLU's North Carolina Legal Foundation, said on Monday.

http://news.yahoo.com/north-carolina-barred-issuing-choose-life-license-plates-184735990.html

[HockeyMom]

1. Florida refused to issue CHOICE plates

although they do have Choose Life ones. As a mother of two, I would definitely get the CHOICE plates. Giving birth does not mean one is anti choice!!!!!

[Warpy]

2. Giving birth lets you know how much it takes out of you

Most of my friends have kids and are even more vehemently prochoice than they were before they reproduced.

Personally, I don't think the state has any voice in this most intimate choice beyond making sure surgery is being performed by qualified people instead of the shady characters we had to confront before 1974. I'm totally against issuing license plates or any other government item that says a thing about it either way.

Let the fetus fetishists pay for more bumper stickers if they want to display their idiotic intolerance for all to see.

[marions ghost]

3. Shouldn't have "pro choice" ones either I guess

this seems too volatile an issue for license plates ---

[hfojvt]

4. well, there you go

once the state issues a "choose infanticide" plate they will be cool with the ACLU and the judge.

I mean, come on, "choose life" is an anti-abortion message, but it is NOT an anti-choice message.

Which part of "choose" did they not understand? There is no "choose" without "reproductive freedom".

I know some people don't like it, but traditional Democratic Party policy was that abortions should be "safe, legal AND RARE".

But now I find that language existed in the 2004 platform, but was dropped in 2008 and 2012. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09-05/how-democrats-lost-their-way-on-abortion.html

That's what I get for being old school. I will probably get killed for it, but I still have no problem encouraging people to "choose life".

[bowens43]

5. of course its an anti choice message.

you equate abortion with infanticide?

Talk about an extremist view point.....