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December 11th, 2012
01:13 AM ET
'Choose Life' license plates ruled unconstitutional in North CarolinaBy Joe Sutton, CNN (CNN) - A federal judge ruled that North Carolina's new "Choose Life" license plates are unconstitutional because the state does not offer a pro-choice alternative. "The State's offering a Choose Life license plate in the absence of a pro-choice alternative constitutes viewpoint discrimination in violation of the First Amendment," U.S. District Court Judge James Fox wrote in the ruling Friday. The ruling was praised by the American Civil Liberties Union, which had filed a lawsuit in 2011 to stop the specialty plates. "This is a great victory for the free speech rights of all North Carolinians, regardless of their point of view on reproductive freedom," said Chris Brook of the ACLU. "The government cannot create an avenue of expression for one side of a contentious political issue while denying an equal opportunity to citizens with the opposite view." Republican state Rep. Mitch Gillespie, who sponsored the bill for the "Choose Life" plates, said he would push for an appeal of the judge's decision, CNN affiliate WRAL reported. The bill for the license plates passed in 2011, and the legislation also mandated that money raised from the sale of the specialty plates would go to a nonprofit that supports crisis pregnancy centers, WRAL reported. During the fight to get the bill passed, North Carolina lawmakers voted down amendments that would have created pro-choice alternatives such as "Trust Women. Respect Choice," the affiliate reported. The "Choose Life" plates are available in 29 states, according to Choose Life Inc., a nonprofit that helps states that want to sell these specialty plates. soundoff (3,213 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 Next »
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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How is this a great victory for free speech rights for all when we who are pro-life aren't allowed to express our views?
And TimInNc...the Roman Catholic Church states that life begins at the moment of conception. Maybe you should attend mass, then you'd have your facts straight!
Natalie: whole point, victory for free speech cause pro-lifer opinion was the only choice. Get it? If my opinion is only available and yours isn't, then you are repressed. Logic.
yeah – except there's no gods thus completely negating the veracity of catholicism.
here's a keen idea – if you are opposed to abortion AND you are a pregnant woman... don't have an abortion.
just don't think you have the right to decide for others. i'm betting you wouldn't want others deciding for you.
grow up – evolve.
Natalie, how are you not allowed to express your views? You're doing it right here, aren't you?
Personal views do not belong on license plates. Keep it on bumper stickers. And btw. Stop pushing your religion onto others. Not everyone is catholic
AGAIN! You just used your ability for free speech and NOBODY stopped you. It just wasn't facilitated or promoted by the govt. C'mon people this is 8th grade civics material!
You might be a Redneck!
I believe North Caroline should indeed offer an alternative to the "Choose Life" license plate: "CHOOSE DEATH" maybe with an image of an aborted baby next to it. That would be fair, wouldn't it?
only to a fool like you
Without passing a value judgment, legally the state has the better argument. I'm pretty sure this will be overturned on appeal. The state is allowed to have its own message and subsidize that message. The mother and father cases which support this view are Rust v. Sullivan and Finley v NEA. As long as they aren't forcing it upon people, the state should be in the clear. Previous cases striking licesnse plates only deal with license plates that were given to people involuntarily.
Sign me up one fetus plate, please!
republicans are only pro life until the embilical cord is cut, then they could care less if u starve to death right after birth. it is part of there master plan to over-populate the country so that u will have 100 people lined up to apply for 1 job opening, the 1 willing to work for lowest wage gets the job.
right to life, right to work, ect. they hide their true agendas in the name of morals. if republicans really cared about morals, they would allow tax hike on top 2% so we could move on, but they wont because it goes aganst there true agenda.
Yep, that's right! After the umbilical cord is cut, everyone's responsible for themselves. Nothing wrong with that.
repub – yeah that's funny – i know you're joking – but that's really what retarded, delusional, ignorant, xian, conservative, idiots actually think.
unless you are a pregnant woman – the choice is not yours to make.
it's always the ignorant, delusional, myopic, retarded, xian, conservative, idiots who believe they know better than everyone else.
they are the ones who should have been aborted.
This is the header on CNN's page? This is a non-story, affecting a sliver of the American population. CNN, as a liberal establishment, is pro-abortion. The fact that they highlight it evidences their bias
yeah, how DARE a news organisation report the news?
oh cry more. how many pro-christian stories have atheists had to swallow? "what coffee would jesus drink?" and "2 nuns travel across country" or "virgin mary appears in a piece of toast". all media is pro christianity. if they reported the truth, stories would have headlines like "christianity still largest cult in america".
Baby needs a nappy-poos and a burpies, doesn't he? Awww!
"New Poll Shows Less People Talking to Imaginary Sky Fairies"
I'm Jewish and none of those stories ever bother me. It's the extremely dramatic people screaming for attention all the time by protesting Christian stuff that bothers me. How can you care so much?
i wonder how you would fell if they only had pro choice plates??? ....i bet this would be the number one story on FOX no-news
@PhillyKev uhhhhh they do have pro-choice plates. Do you feel silly?
@Doctadocta
no ....not in North Carolina....didn't you read the Article?..........do you feel silly?
@Doctadocta
Just to help you out “North Carolina lawmakers voted down amendments that would have created pro-choice alternatives”
I am a native North Carolinian–Born and Bred there in NC. . . and I totally agree with the ACLU on this. . .
This ruling makes too much sense. It will never stand LOL
Ever notice lots of pro-life folks are neither anti-capital puni shment nor pacfist?
I love this ruling and this is what I love about the US what don't have to have some one less religious beliefs stuff down our throats!!!
I'm anti-abortion and I'm pro-capital punishment.....Oooooohhhhh, spooooky
God says. Thou shalt not kill. Which means do not murder. If you say the unborn child does not exist, why does it have a beating heart ?
Firstly, the fetus doesnt have a beating heart until about 6 weeks. So I assume you have no objection whatsoever to abortion before 6 weeks?
Secondly, a heartbeat is not an indicator of humanity or of a life form. The indicators of a life form are well established and universally accepted in medical and biological science, and they include viability. Until viability, there is no life form. Why do you think abortion tends to be illegal, even in very liberal countries, after 24 weeks except in emergencies?
No viability = no life form = nobody.
Keith/hoser/whaetever, it's not a child, no matter how many times you say it. You nutters do have trouble with the truth, don't you? Even though lying is one of the Top 10 No-Nos you still lie and lie and lie. Hope you packed your asbestos swim trunks!
how are you defining/ determining viability.
Keith, whatever the merits of your argument, it's irrelevant; the question is whether a state can offer a specialty plate to supporters of one side of an issue and deny one to the opposition. That's all.
However the law determines it.
does the law define it?
Whos law. Man's or Gods. That's the question.
@Gaunt As a holder of two-post-graduate degrees in biology, viability include the ability to reproduce, which (under your definition) would make all children "not living." Should we abort children?
Maybe you meant to say fetal viability, and other than legal definitions, no scientific definitions exist to define a person as living based on fetal viability
Rob: There is only one definition of viability: the ability to survive and thrive independently. Its a biological definition, and has always been so. Until a fetus is viable, it is not a life form.
(much laughter)
Really, two post-graduate degrees in biology?
(more laughter)
Then how exactly did you get all that schoolin' in biology and not learn that viability has NOTHING to do with the ability to reproduce? Nothing whatsoever?
How do you not know the strict, universally accepted criteria for determining a life form? Missed that in your 'multiple post graduate degrees'?
Amazing how uneducated adolescents on the internet always claim vast education in an effort to make their silly lies seem more plausible.
@Gaunt viability has nothing to do with your fictional definition of life! In biological terms, there are only characteristics for a living thing, one of which includes the ability to reproduce. To twist that into saying "characteristics for a living thing = definition of life" is absolutely incorrect, because that would define all pre-pubescents as non-living.
Nice attempt to squirm away from your overt humiliation, and revealed bold-faced lie about your so called 'education'.
Interesting how you now claim there are NO biological criteria for a life form, and that viability is some 'invention' of mine. Odd how you claim something to utterly false, while squealing about your great 'edumacation' in biology.
I will be nice and give you a chance to reconsider, retract and apologize for your past claim, before I post you four seperate sources, including the Royal Society and the Oxford Journal of Molecular cell biology, proving you embarassingly wrong.
God is/was an alien.
?
?!
Those who voted for George W. Bush twice shouldn't call anyone a friggin' idiot. Whose the fool? The fool himself or the fool who follows him?
Al Gore wasn't a great alternative. He may be smarter, but he wanted to shut down power plants and create an energy crisis in the name of reducing the inexorable flow of GHGs into the atmosphere.
Abortion is murder in Gods eyes. He is the only just Judge.
Please cite any passage in either Old or New Testament where god specifically prohibits abortion.
I dare you.
It's a god thing that God doesn't exist then
Seeing as how 1 in 3 pregnancies end in miscarriage, and before modern medicine, 1 in 5 pregnancies ended in the death of either the potential offspring, or of the mother, according to your "logic" your god is the biggest murderer of them all.
But it's not murder if it's done in the name of God? You people are beyond nutters.
If god is the only just judge, how do you know abortion is murder? Please don't say the bible. You know you're supposed to believe god's judgement comes after death, so you really don't know if god judges abortion as murder. Instead you have strong convictions about it; strong convictions that do not align with law.
No
not in this country ...where the laws are by men ...not some fairy tale
Eric, in all courts, genetics is used to I’d a person.
Sample the unborn. Is it the mom’s genes? The dad’s? Or is it legal defined as a different person if permitted to leave a particular point in space-time (the womb). Prochoice says I can kill my kid as long as I do it in my own home.
In courts Genetics are used to identify a person, not cetegoize them. Yes the zygote has a unique genetic profile. So what? That doesnt render it any more of a life form.
Hoser, you're having some trouble suffering your defeat like an adult. You just kep losing left and right, eh? Can you describe your feelings at having your religion slowly fade away? I will take notes.
You're welcome.
In all courts, genetics is used to I’d a person.
Sample the unborn. Is it the mom’s genes? The dad’s? Or is it legal defined as a different person if permitted to leave a particular point in space-time (the womb). Prochoice says I can kill my kid as long as I do it in my own home.
I'm sure the religious right will pitch a fit. I'm already seeing the headlines on Faux news. But lets face it, "SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE" needs to be just that. It's funny how the religious right scream about people trying to change the 2nd amendment, but when it comes to the separation of church and state, a more fundamental pillar of our country, they couldn't care less as long as its their religion being packaged with a government policy.
The church is good enough to throw around money for birth control now, but when it comes to a plate they have to go. This is why liberals are friggin idiots and ruining this country at a rapid pace
Lack of alternative is what the article is about. I would be without a plate in this state if this was all that was offered.
if this decision ruins the country, then bring on ruination! Back to your bunker, reprobate.
That's a crap argument.
In all courts, genetics is used to I'd a person.
Sample the unborn. Is it the mom's genes? The dad's? Or is it legal defined as a different person if permitted to leave a particular point in space-time (the womb). Prochoice says I can kill my kid as long as I do it in my own home.
On one hand i think plate looks cute. On the other hand its politically motivated and doesnt belong on a Govt issued item.
Voted down an amendment of pro choice huh...nothing like using your position to voice your opinion and ONLY your opinion. Good example of how not to be as a lawmaker.