Life plates cancelled…for lack of interest?

Not exactly.

In Illinois, the land of Lincoln. And President-elect Obama….

Drivers can choose from a large selection of specialty license plates in the Secretary of State’s driving facilities, from environmental plates to universityl alumni to ‘anti-violence’ plates. But with a new ruling, they can’t “Choose Life”.

A federal appeals court has sided with Illinois officials who don’t want to issue Choose Life license plates for state motorists. The ruling overturns a decision last year by a federal judge who denied a request by Secretary of State Jesse White to overturn his prior ruling.

Wait….that’s more than a double negative. There are several negatives to unravel here (“don’t want”, “overturns”, “denied” a request to “overturn”….that’s four negatives in the lead alone).

Let’s sort this out…

Choose Life Illinois filed the lawsuit in July 2004 against White alleging that the state’s current specialty license plate system allows for discrimination.

After receiving far more than the necessary number of signatures to submit an application for a Choose Life license plate — they needed 800 and obtained 25,000 — the state legislature did not approve the plate for two years.

Whoa. They needed 800 and got 25,000. And it still got overruled?

Yes. It was a power play.

In its Friday ruling, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said state officials are within their rights to keep the abortion debate off Illinois license plates, even though other states have approved the plates.

“Chicago-style politics” extend statewide.

The court ruled that Illinois officials have refused the Choose Life plate “on the reasonable rationale that messages on specialty license plates give the appearance of having the government’s endorsement, and Illinois does not wish to be perceived as endorsing any position on abortion.”

Bogus claim.

Previously, Tom Brejcha, president and chief counsel at the Thomas More Society, a pro-life law firm representing the group behind the plates, talked about the situation…

“Once you open up state license plates as a public forum where citizens can set up their soap boxes and promote their private causes … you can’t constitutionally suppress the rights of over 25,000 Illinois citizens who signed petitions for Choose Life [plates],” he explained.

The state has issued 60 specialty plates ranging from pet lovers to environmental causes.

Choose Life plates in other states have been extremely popular and raised millions for adoption programs and pregnancy centers.

However, the license to freely speak your views only extends so far. And so far, it hasn’t reached Illinois.