Order Your Tag Today
By L.A. Williams
Christian Action League
June 3, 2016
Pro-life champions who kept on trudging during a five-year legal marathon to win the right for North Carolina vehicles to sport Choose Life license plates are now in a sprint to the finish to have the tags produced.
Having redesigned the plate to meet updated specifications, the Carolina Pregnancy Care Fellowship must now collect 300 applications before production can began. And drivers who had applied for the plates before they were challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union are required to submit a new application with current information.
“We have emailed all the former applicants and sent letters to those we lacked emails,” Bobbie Meyer, state director of the CPCF, wrote in a recent update. She said she hopes the organization will be ready to submit more than 300 applications by mid-June.
The Rev. Mark Creech, executive director of the Christian Action League, is challenging CAL supporters to make that happen.
In 2004, the state legislature approved a specialty plate with “In God We Trust” and a yellow “Support Our Troops” ribbon. The CAL helped lead the push to get the needed applications to have those tags produced, and in fact, that fall Dr. Creech became the 300th person to apply.
“What a great opportunity we have to help CPCF cross the finish line in their valiant efforts to get the Choose Life message out on North Carolina’s roadways,” said Dr. Creech. “Not to mention the fact that proceeds from these plates — $15 from each $25 tag fee — will help the 65 or so pregnancy resource centers that serve families across the state.”
Rep. Paul Stam (R-Wake), a supporter of the 2011 bill to create the tags, sent out a recent email reminding pro-lifers to “rattle the bushes” about the availability of the Choose Life tags to get orders flowing. He said it would be sadly ironic if, after five years of lawsuits, those who wanted the tag most fail to realize they need to apply for it before it can even be produced.
“There was a big splash with the announcement that the 4th District Federal Court had reversed its decision about the plate, but with the pace of news today, sometimes issues are on and off the radar before people take time to take action,” Dr. Creech said. “We certainly don’t want this issue to get lost in the shuffle.”
According to www.choose-life.org, North Carolina is the 28th state to offer a Choose Life plate. Sales of the tags across the nation have raised more than $21 million since 2014. A federal appeals court gave North Carolina’s Choose Life tags the green light in March, reversing a decision it made two years ago when the court deemed the plates unconstitutional.
To apply for your Choose Life license plate, visit http://www.ncchoose-life.org and click on application on the left side of the site.
