Choosing Life!

Rep. Larry Phillips: Republican and Wham! fan?

Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Ft. Worth, is asking lawmakers to "equalize" the proposed "Choose Life" license plate law by adding an additional license plate option that reads "Pro-Family, Pro-Choice." The point, says Burnam, is to give "full and equal opportunity of expression" on license plates. "If we're going to start politicizing our license plates, it is only appropriate that we add equal opportunity," he said. And, "specifically," he noted, "the First Amendment calls for this."

At issue is the Choose Life plate that Gov. Rick Perry has since December been calling for lawmakers to pass. Backers of the plate – Rep. Larry Phillips, R-Sherman, and Sen. John Carona, R-Dallas, and their supporters – have said the point of the plate is actually to support adoption, but have nonetheless rejected suggestions that the plate's language be changed to say just that. As a result, Rep. Jessica Farrar, D-Houston, on Tuesday offered up an amendment to Phillips' proposal, providing for a second plate option that reads, "Choose Adoption." Lawmakers gave the measure tentative approval.

Today, the plate proposal is back up on the floor with Burnam arguing that in order to satisfy the demands of the First Amendment, the government cannot discriminate based on content or viewpoint. Thus, if lawmakers are choosing to reject the neutral language of Choose Adoption in favor of the Life message, then another, equal message should be offered – Burnam's Pro-Family, Pro-Choice message. When asked if he was proposing lawmakers issue a "pro abortion" plate, Burnam said that the plate's real message is "government, stay out of my private life, its none of your business."

Moreover, Burnam proposes that money earned from the sale of that plate should go to groups that provide family planning and reproductive health services for low-income women. Under the Phillips proposal, proceeds from the Life plate would go only to specific groups, likely unregulated crisis pregnancy centers in addition, at least in theory, to maternity homes and other non-profits that encourage a woman to choose to carry her pregnancy to term and place the child up for adoption.

Members have not yet voted on the Burnam amendment -- apparently there weren't enough copies made to hand out to each rep. The debate is slated to continue this afternoon.

Unless the members adopt Burnam's "equal access" proposal, it seems likely that the issue would move to the courts, if -- but, more likely, when -- the Life plate becomes law. (The Senate passed their version of the Life plate law last week, without a pro-choice or neutral pro-adoption option.) So far, the courts have been split on whether such plates are legal -- some have upheld their issuance, ruling that they actually convey the position of individual motorists and not of the government. Other courts have ruled that the plates offend the First Amendment through viewpoint discrimination -- including the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision to block South Carolina officials from issuing a Choose Life plate without also allowing a Pro-Choice plate.

The U.S. Supreme Court is now being asked to step in and sort through the mess: Choose Life Illinois, Inc., is appealing to the court after a Chicago appeals court upheld Illinois' officials refusal to issue a Life specialty plate.

UPDATE: The House just voted 80-48 to table Burnam's amendment to House Bill 3097, which would have created a Pro-Family, Pro-Choice license plate, the point of which, he said, was to fix a "constitutionally flawed" law that as written would "violate the First Amendment right" of millions of Texans.