Twenty-one states have issued “Choose Life” license plates. Four states have approved the plates and legislation is pending in sixteen others. Where does North Carolina fit in, and why do the plates draw opposition in some circles?
Legislation to issue a pro-life license plate was introduced in both the North Carolina Senate (S210) and House (H168) in February, 2009. The bills are identical. Profits from the “Choose Life” plate go to non-governmental agencies that provide counseling and assistance to pregnant women. Most important, Section 4 of both bills stipulates that funds generated by the sale of the plates cannot be given to any entity that “provides, promotes, counsels, or refers for abortion.”
The House version has gathered dust in the Rules, Calendar and Operations of the House Committee since the day after its filing. Rep. Bill Owens (D), the committee chair, has refused to move the bill. S210 has fared no better in the Senate Finance Committee, chaired by Sen. Dan Clodfelter (D) from Mecklenburg County. While Owens’ opinion on abortion is obscure, Clodfelter’s is crystal clear. He received NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina’s endorsement during the 2008 election cycle.
Owens and Clodfelter may have unprejudiced reasons for their inaction on “Choose Life” plates. The same can’t be said for Planned Parenthood (PPFA), a vehement opponent of pro-life tags. Their disapproval is spelled out in dollars and cents. Planned Parenthood loathes the idea of proceeds from a government issued license plate supporting organizations that oppose indiscriminate abortion.
What gall! When we follow the money trail we find that Planned Parenthood has no standing to criticize “Choose Life” license plates or the money they supply to pro-life organizations.
Florida began offering the pro-life tags in August of 2000, with each tag delivering $20 to qualified recipients. By April 2010 the Sunshine State had issued or renewed nearly 360,000 “Choose Life” plates, generating over $7 million for Florida’s pro-life community. That’s why Planned Parenthood opposes these tags. Ironically, it’s also why their protests ring hollow.
According to Planned Parenthood’s 2008 Annual Report (p.9), its offices performed 305,310 abortions in 2007. At the median price of $625 per procedure, PPFA grossed more than $190 million from abortion alone. Add to that the $350 million in government grants and funding that PPFA draws annually and the monies generated by the “Choose Life” tags are but a pittance.
Each of the 50 states would have to yield annually what Florida’s “Choose Life” tag produced over a 10-year period just to match PPFA’s yearly government receipts. In fact, Planned Parenthood receives half of its annual revenue from the combination of abortion and government ($540 million). PPFA’s opposition to “Choose Life” tags based on public funding of the pro-life message is therefore dismissible.
Furthermore, “Choose Life” plates force no one to promote a pro-life message. People who don’t want to fund pro-life causes can choose another plate design. Taxpayer’s don’t foot the bill for the “Choose Life” tag, either. Only the profit goes to pro-life causes, meaning the issue price covers the cost of producing the special plate.
Planned Parenthood can’t make that claim. Since PPFA receives funding directly from government, pro-life taxpayers are forced to finance a cause they consider utterly reprehensible.
“Choose Life” license plates are a legitimate outlet for a worthy, peaceful position. S210 and H168 shouldn’t stagnate in committee. They shouldn’t wither due to the inaction of biased or disinterested committee chairs. And the “Choose Life” tag surely shouldn’t succumb to pressure from the duplicitous Planned Parenthood.
Showing posts with label pro-life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pro-life. Show all posts
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Truth cannot be denied
Truth prevails whenever it confronts fallacy, for falsehood cannot stand fact. Now for a fact. No one with a heart can excuse abortion once they’re exposed to its reality. To prove this point let me present Abby Johnson, for whom reality and conscience collided in a big way.
Abby’s now the target of a Planned Parenthood restraining order. Of course, anyone who protests outside an abortion clinic will draw the ire of Planned Parenthood. But Abby isn’t the typical pro-life activist. She is an abortion industry insider. Until recently, Abby Johnson worked at the Planned Parenthood facility in Bryan, Texas. While there she helped women receive the 60 to 80 abortions that the clinic performed each month. Those abortions are, according to Johnson, the most lucrative service the clinic renders.
But Planned Parenthood has a problem; a picture is worth a thousand words. Ms. Johnson’s outlook changed when the wonders of the ultrasound allowed her to witness an abortion firsthand. She knew right away that she was in the wrong line of work. Abby is now associated with the Coalition for Life and pickets the clinic where she once facilitated abortion.
“When I was working at Planned Parenthood I was extremely pro-choice,” Johnson told FoxNews.com. “I would say there was a definite conversion in my heart . . . a spiritual conversion.”
King Solomon, writing in Ecclesiastes, recognized that neither the wise nor the fool could escape error. But that in itself doesn’t make foolishness preferable or excusable. In Ecclesiastes 2:13 Solomon wrote, “I saw that wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness.”
Light’s presence is darkness’ elimination. So, too, will truth and wisdom repudiate falsehood and foolishness. Those who have given their time and efforts to defend life have long known this fundamental truth. We can now count Abby Johnson--a former Planned Parenthood, pro-abortion activist--in our number. Welcome aboard, Abby. And thank God!
Abby’s now the target of a Planned Parenthood restraining order. Of course, anyone who protests outside an abortion clinic will draw the ire of Planned Parenthood. But Abby isn’t the typical pro-life activist. She is an abortion industry insider. Until recently, Abby Johnson worked at the Planned Parenthood facility in Bryan, Texas. While there she helped women receive the 60 to 80 abortions that the clinic performed each month. Those abortions are, according to Johnson, the most lucrative service the clinic renders.
But Planned Parenthood has a problem; a picture is worth a thousand words. Ms. Johnson’s outlook changed when the wonders of the ultrasound allowed her to witness an abortion firsthand. She knew right away that she was in the wrong line of work. Abby is now associated with the Coalition for Life and pickets the clinic where she once facilitated abortion.
“When I was working at Planned Parenthood I was extremely pro-choice,” Johnson told FoxNews.com. “I would say there was a definite conversion in my heart . . . a spiritual conversion.”
King Solomon, writing in Ecclesiastes, recognized that neither the wise nor the fool could escape error. But that in itself doesn’t make foolishness preferable or excusable. In Ecclesiastes 2:13 Solomon wrote, “I saw that wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness.”
Light’s presence is darkness’ elimination. So, too, will truth and wisdom repudiate falsehood and foolishness. Those who have given their time and efforts to defend life have long known this fundamental truth. We can now count Abby Johnson--a former Planned Parenthood, pro-abortion activist--in our number. Welcome aboard, Abby. And thank God!
Monday, June 15, 2009
Intimidation reigns after Tiller’s death
Intimidation is an effective tactic. If one side of a debate can force the opposition to abandon their beliefs, or to shrink from defending them, the first side is a step closer to victory. Since George Tiller’s death, intimidation has become the pro-abortion community’s preferred strategy.
Ellen Goodman, a pro-choice columnist for the Boston Globe, blamed Tiller’s death directly on the entire pro-life movement. Every person who calls abortion-on-demand what it is—the murder of an innocent child—is, in her eyes, responsible for lighting the shooter’s fuse.
No pro-lifer wants to be associated with a murderer. Ellen Goodman and her ilk understand this perfectly and they’re using it to their advantage. They know that they can gain an upper hand if they can silence our voice by linking our cause with Tiller’s death. We can’t allow that to happen.
Our opposition to George Tiller’s murder is no reason for us to defend or excuse what he did with his life. When we denounce his murder and disavow responsibility for it we are entirely consistent with our pro-life message. However, abortion supporters (such as Goodman) must condemn Tiller’s death while defending the deaths Tiller caused. Our position is consistent, rational and defensible. Theirs is not.
The pro-abortion use of Tiller’s death is a test we must pass. We cannot be intimidated. We cannot abandon our principles in the face of false accusations. We cannot be silenced and we cannot shrink from defending innocent life. Ours is the righteous cause.
Ellen Goodman, a pro-choice columnist for the Boston Globe, blamed Tiller’s death directly on the entire pro-life movement. Every person who calls abortion-on-demand what it is—the murder of an innocent child—is, in her eyes, responsible for lighting the shooter’s fuse.
No pro-lifer wants to be associated with a murderer. Ellen Goodman and her ilk understand this perfectly and they’re using it to their advantage. They know that they can gain an upper hand if they can silence our voice by linking our cause with Tiller’s death. We can’t allow that to happen.
Our opposition to George Tiller’s murder is no reason for us to defend or excuse what he did with his life. When we denounce his murder and disavow responsibility for it we are entirely consistent with our pro-life message. However, abortion supporters (such as Goodman) must condemn Tiller’s death while defending the deaths Tiller caused. Our position is consistent, rational and defensible. Theirs is not.
The pro-abortion use of Tiller’s death is a test we must pass. We cannot be intimidated. We cannot abandon our principles in the face of false accusations. We cannot be silenced and we cannot shrink from defending innocent life. Ours is the righteous cause.
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