Anybody see this shit in the Alive?

I am working on a design that will feature a giant uterus in chains.

Yes Beth, FUCK that. I've already e-mailed Senator Steve Stivers regarding this. If they want a pro-life plate (which really should be called anti-choice) they should offer a pro-choice plate.

Anti Choice? Bad term. It has nothing to do with choice. What it is about is a group of people who believe that their beliefs should be everyone's. To them there is no such thing as choice. Predestination is the term of the day.

Now, I have no problem with someone wanting to think that way. They can lobby for it all they want, just as the KKK can lobby to repeal the 16th amendment, and just as the black panthers can push for reparation.

All of it is bunk.

But at the same time, I don't agree with the line of thinking that says these folks have to pay for abortions. Seriously. This is a moral issue, not one that is clearly defined. I take that back. Let's start over.

The controversy over abortion, in my mind, comes down to two main questions:
First, should it be legal?
In it's most base form, it's a medical procedure. I think it's safe to say that most people have no problem with abortion if it falls into a gray zone; result of a rape, incest, or if it threatens the life of the mother. For the record, I think that way myself. Only the staunchest of the christian right oppose such thinking. And you have to respect it; there are pro-lifers who have let their pregnant daughters die because of complications during birth (can't recall the name, article I read a few years back). Now, we may sit there and go, "What a load of horseshit", but that's their way. And they can go ahead and do what they want when it comes to a decision like that. It's their call. They are Americans, they can do what they please in this instance.
But at the same time, people who do not subscribe to an idealogy that says abortion is dead wrong should be able to have it their way as well. To me, abortion should be legal. And this has nothing to do with "My body"...it has to do with respecting people's belief systems.
That being said, here's where I have a serious problem with abortion.

Who pays for it?

And that's where I get a case of the ass. If it is your belief that you can have one, fine and dandy. Don't expect someone else to pay for it, unless it falls into a grey zone and was beyond your control. Don't ask every single Jewish, Christian, Muslim and anti abortion taxpayer to pay for it either. And don't try throwing this "Well, I don't want my taxes going to pay for nuclear missles" bullshit into the fray. Those missles benefit us all whether you believe it, understand it, or like it. This is different ground. This is where a moral issue meets a taxation issue. Rarely has this occured in our history. Although it does seem to be happening more often in the modern day (see:gay marriage and benefits).

The other thing I don't like about this issue is the fact that everyone wants to make it a federal problem, when it may be the one single thing in America that shouldn't be. Here's a proposal:

Abortion is legal.
Capital Punishment is legal.
Not all states have capital punishment.

This is a precendent. Just because it's legal doesn't mean that states HAVE to allow it. At the same time, we don't want state government mucking about with said issue.
Let the people of the states decide if they want abortion and to what degree they want it. Put it to a vote.
Want to allow abortions, paid for by the state, anytime for any reason? Congrats..yer Class I
Class II-Abortions all the time, only state paid in cases of grey zones.
Class-III ONLY Grey Zone abortions allowed

And so on.

This issue will NEVER be SOLVED. As long as there are Religious zealots and human rights activists at the forefront of problem, there will never be an END either.

The only good thing that can happen in this case is compromise.
I highly doubt that we will ever see it happen.

Jan 24, 11:46 AM EST

High Court Defers on 'Choose Life' Plates

By HOPE YEN
Associated Press Writer





WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court declined Monday to consider whether states may offer plates with anti-abortion messages, leaving lower courts divided over whether the programs in a dozen states unconstitutionally restrict dissenting views.

Without comment, justices let stand a lower court ruling that said South Carolina's license plates, which bear the slogan "Choose Life," violate the First Amendment because abortion rights supporters weren't given a similar forum to express their beliefs.

The high court's move means that South Carolina will either have to eliminate the specialty plates or begin offering plates with abortion-rights views. That ruling is an odds, however, with a decision by the New Orleans-based 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which essentially allowed the plates because it said anti-abortion advocates didn't have standing to bring a lawsuit in the case.

Under the South Carolina program begun in 2001, drivers may pay a $70 fee to purchase the anti-abortion plates, with the revenue going toward local crisis pregnancy programs. Specialty plates with abortion-rights slogans are not offered.

Planned Parenthood of South Carolina, which filed the lawsuit, had argued the program amounts to "viewpoint discrimination" by state officials since they allow expression of only one side of the abortion debate.

South Carolina countered that the plates are "government speech" that entitles them to allow a particular viewpoint without an obligation to include dissenting views. Otherwise, the state would have to allow countering views to license plates touching on any public policy matter, such as "God Bless America."

The plate is "the most recent and apparently most visible expression in a long line of statements asserting the state's clear and oft-repeated preference for childbirth over abortion," state officials argued in their filing.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Richmond, Va., disagreed and ruled the plates were unconstitutional. It rejected South Carolina's claim that Planned Parenthood lacked "standing," or an actual injury, since it never applied for a specialty plate under a separate law allowing nonprofit groups to seek plates bearing their insignia for members. The 4th Circuit also covers Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.

The ruling was at odds with one by the 5th Circuit, which ruled in December 2002 that Louisiana abortion rights advocates had no standing to sue that state over its anti-abortion plate. The 5th Circuit covers the states of Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas.

Planned Parenthood may "base their claim of injury on the state's unequal treatment of two viewpoints in the abortion debate, specifically, its promotion of only the pro-life view," the 4th Circuit stated.

According to South Carolina's court filing, 11 other states offer driver "Choose Life" plates and lawmakers in 11 additional states are considering providing them.

States offering the plates are: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Montana, Oklahoma and Tennessee.

The states that have "undertaken legislative action to some degree" on anti-abortion plates are: California, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, New Hampshire, Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas and Virginia.

The law allowing the "Choose Life" plate was signed by South Carolina Gov. Jim Hodges in 2001 and included in a bill that allowed NASCAR and other specialty plates. In 2003, U.S. District Judge Patrick Michael Duffy issued a preliminary injunction blocking South Carolina from issuing the plates until the case was heard.

The case is Rose v. Planned Parenthood of South Carolina, 04-429.

Only thing worse than a commie pinko?
A whining commie pinko.