Plate offering not taking sides

By The Gazette Editorial Board

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After years of trying, pro-life Iowa motorists soon will be able to choose license plates urging others to “Choose Life.”

It's the first time the state has offered a specialty plate - which vehicle owners already can purchase to show support for causes as varied as conservation, breast cancer research or veterans' awareness - dealing with such a controversial public issue as abortion.

That has some people concerned that by making the specialty plates available, the state appears to be taking a side in the sometimes contentious debate about the issue.

We disagree.

Unless the governor used undue influence to strong-arm Department of Transportation officials' approval of the specialty plate, and so long as the “Choose Life” plates meet all the criteria laid out by the DOT, we see no reason for the state not to offer motorists the option.

If other groups want to propose specialty plates taking stands on other sensitive issues, we'd support them, as well.

It's less important to us that the messages motorists can choose to display have universal support than that the rules for making such messages available are uniformly applied.

Iowa is the 29th state to approve the “Choose Life” plate - which has been the focus of a nationwide drive spearheaded by the Florida-based group Choose Life America. The issue made it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court a decade ago when pro-choice supporters tried to block a similar plate in Louisiana, arguing the plate gave a forum only to pro-life views. The court disagreed.

Iowa pro-life groups have wanted for years for state legislators to make the specialty plate available, but last week DOT officials determined that the message doesn't violate content rules - meaning that special legislation won't be necessary, after all.

A spokesman for Gov. Terry Branstad confirmed that the governor's office helped the plate's supporters with this slightly different, and ultimately successful, approach.

Now supporters have only to ensure that at least 500 applications for the plates are submitted within the next year, for them to be made available.

They say that shouldn't be a problem.

And as long as the DOT's decision was reached impartially, and will be applied equally with other groups, we see no problem, either.

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