- On Friday, the Center for Reproductive Rights will present arguments in federal court on why Florida's "Choose Life" license plate statute violates the free speech rights of pro-choice organizations and unconstitutionally delegates to religious organizations the authority to distribute state funds raised from the sale of the plates.
"Florida's license plate scheme is an unconstitutional violation of free speech because the state will not distribute funds, more than $600,000, to groups that even mention the option of abortion," says Brigitte Amiri, the Center for Reproductive Rights attorney who represents the plaintiffs.
Under the guidelines of the Florida law, passed in 1999, money collected from purchase of the "Choose Life" plates prohibits the distribution of funds to any agency "that is involved or associated with abortion activities, including counseling for or referrals to abortion clinics, providing medical abortion-related procedures, or proabortion advertising." Only organizations that withhold information about abortion are eligible for funds. This type of viewpoint discrimination is in violation of the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech.
In addition, although under the law Florida counties are responsible for the distribution of the funds, some counties have delegated this responsibility to Catholic Charities, a Roman Catholic organization. By doing so, the Florida government demonstrates a preference for one religion over all others in violation of the Establishment Clause.
While there have been previous unsuccessful challenges to the Florida license plates, this is the first challenge to address the constitutionality of the distribution of funds under the Florida law. Challenges against "Choose Life" license plates have been brought in states around the country including Louisiana where plaintiffs await a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, on the State's appeal of the preliminary injunction. The Center for Reproductive Rights also represents the plaintiffs in that case.
Plaintiffs in Women's Emergency Network v. Bush include two nonprofit organizations and an individual taxpayer. Brigitte Amiri, Hillary Schwab and Priscilla J. Smith of the Center for Reproductive Rights represent the plaintiffs along with local counsel Louis M. Silber of Silber & Valente.
