"Choose Life" Advocates Move Forward

Story

"Choose Life" Advocates Move Forward

Special Report - June 1, 2009
Proponents of a bill that would give North Carolina motorists the opportunity to purchase “Choose Life” specialty license plates are asking citizens to sign an online petition in support of the plates. The petition, which is sponsored by the Carolina Pregnancy Care Fellowship—a network of pregnancy centers in the state—will be sent to North Carolina lawmakers to encourage them to pass HB 168/S210-“Choose Life” Special Plate this year. The House version of the bill has been introduced by Representative Mitch Gillespie (R-Burke) for the past eight years but has never been allowed to be brought to the floor for a vote. It currently resides in the House Rules Committee.

The bills would direct that $15 of the additional $25 license plate fee toward pregnancy resource centers in North Carolina that offer pregnancy and STD testing, counseling and other free services to men and women at no cost to taxpayers. Currently, 24 states allow motorists to purchase “Choose Life” license plates, including Virginia. North Carolina is the only state in the southeast that does not allow the purchase of the pro-life license plates, despite the fact that there are over 135 different specialty license plates sold in the state—all approved by the General Assembly.

“Each year, pregnancy care centers in North Carolina promote a culture of life by offering compassionate help and practical assistance to several thousand women facing the challenges of unexpected pregnancy,” said Barbara Stevenson, State Director of the Carolina Pregnancy Care Fellowship. “Revenue from the Choose Life plate will greatly assist these centers in ministering to women and their unborn children.”

The CPCF has also launched a new web site, www.ncchoose-life.org, which includes the latest information on the “Choose Life” plates debate in North Carolina, along with pictures of the proposed specialty license plates.