The AP provides a bird's-eye view onto the phenomenon of "Choose Life" license plates, which have now spread to 18 states. The plates raise "unresolved issues" about government speech, the AP says. So far, judges have reached the following conclusions:
- In Illinois, a federal judge found the General Assembly had rejected a plate featuring the words "Choose Life" only because of its politically controversial nature, and found that discriminatory.
- In Arizona, the 9th U.S. Circuit also found discriminatory the state's decision to reject the "Choose Life" message so as "not to enter the Choose Life/Pro-Choice debate."
- The 4th U.S. Circuit Court in Richmond told South Carolina officials they could not approve "Choose Life" plates without also allowing abortion-rights plates.
New York Governor Plans to Introduce Same-Sex Marriage Bill
Though the bill likely doesn't have the votes to pass, New York Gov. David Paterson will tomorrow announce plans to introduce legislation to legalize same-sex marriage, the New York Times reports:
Mr. Paterson has said in recent days that the State Legislature should move ahead now with the legislation regardless of whether it can muster enough votes. His reasoning, which some gay rights advocates have challenged, is that New York should make a statement that it is committed to treating same-sex couples the same way it treats opposite-sex couples.
Texas Legislators Go After Local Planned Parenthood Clinics
Several Texas Planned Parenthood clinics have been offering medication abortion, which they were told in 2004 they could do without licensing. Now Texas legislators claim that this provision of abortion is "unlicensed," the Houston Chronicle reports.
The Department of State Health Services on April 2 ordered four clinics in San Antonio to stop providing unlicensed abortion services, according to a letter from the department to the 10 members of the Texas Conservative Coalition in the state House of Representatives.
Planned Parenthood responds:
"The feeling of the press conference is there's something hidden that's going on, and it's not. We've been upfront from the beginning," said Jeffrey Hons, CEO of Planned Parenthood in San Antonio.
Hons said when the four clinics were planning to offer the abortion pill in 2004, he called the state to ask what sort of licenses they needed. He said he was told they didn't need the licenses if it was just the abortion pill.
Sarah Palin Nominates Reactionary Judge
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin got some heads to turn when she nominated a pro-choice judge to the Alaska Supreme Court months ago, but now, as Max Blumenthal reports in the Daily Beast, her nominee for attorney general has a terrible track record on women's rights:
In March, Palin nominated Wayne Anthony Ross for attorney general. Ross, a colorful far-right lawyer and longtime Palin ally who sports his initials, W.A.R., on his Hummer’s vanity plates, was once considered a shoo-in for confirmation. However, his nomination was thrown into grave peril when his opponents presented evidence that he called homosexuals “degenerates,” leveled invective against an African-American student offended by a statue of a Klansman, vowed to undermine the sovereignty of Native American tribes, and allegedly defended men who rape their wives. According to two sources close to the confirmation hearings, Palin may ask Ross to withdraw before his appointment comes to a vote.
