Minnesota legislators are proposing a bill to control women’s bodies through license plates. In the Minnesota State House for the 92nd Legislature (2021-2022), bill HF 1572 proposes that Minnesota provide Choose Life license plates. Anyone receiving it must pay a special plate fee, pay $25 upon initial application to the Choose Life account, and pay at least $25 annually to the Choose Life account. Money from the plates will go to Choose Life Minnesota, Inc. and be distributed only to agencies that assist “pregnant women who are making an adoption plan for their children.” The money cannot go to agencies that offer any abortion services or offer advice to have an abortion.
MN NOW does not support this bill that allows for “Choose Life” license plates. We believe that if people want to, they can get a bumper sticker with their own money. We do not need this wraparound way to fund anti-abortion government efforts. Furthermore, people who had an abortion or have a friend/family member/lover/neighbor who had an abortion do not need to see people driving around with a state-issued license plate declaring that they did something wrong in the eyes of their community- when they did not. They went through a difficult (or easy) journey to make their decision and figured out all the logistics that accompanied it. It is wholly unnecessary to facilitate or endorse state efforts to shame people or their loved ones. We do not need shaming license plates to be sold so the government can only support/endorse pregnant women who are putting their children up for adoption. Yes, pregnant women pursuing adoption deserve support. But it is backwards to support those women while shaming people who support or proceeded with an abortion; it is simply a way for government officials to dictate what they think women “should” do. MN NOW members should oppose the bill (and its strange method for controlling what women do).
We encourage MN NOW members to contact their representatives and request they oppose the bill HF 1572.
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