Official Tennessee
"Choose Life" License
Plate
UPDATE
– July 2011
The Choose Life specialty
license plate is now the 6th top selling specialty plate in
Tennessee! Selling 4,957 plates
through June 30, 2011 and raising over $77,428 for life affirming agencies
in Tennessee in 2011. 35,749 plates
have sold since December of 2006 raising over
$558,399!
“Pro-Life Tennesseans owe a debt of gratitude
to legislative sponsors of the new
Choose Life plate,” said Brian
Harris, president of Tennessee Right to Life. “State Representative Glen Casada and former state Senator Jim Bryson
led the battle through good times and bad to see life affirmed and
resources provided to those who would help women and families facing
difficult pregnancies …Our brave sponsors never gave up and neither should
we,” said Harris.
It’s
Official!
Tennessee’s Choose Life Plates Hit the Road
After
legislative battles, the required pre-sell and a long court fight against
the ACLU and Planned Parenthood, pro-life Tennesseans have succeeded in
making the Choose Life
specialty plate a reality in our state!
Proceeds
from the plates will benefit social service providers throughout Tennessee who offer
tangible support and assistance to women and families facing difficult or
unexpected pregnancies.
The Choose Life specialty license plate costs an
additional $35.00 each time you renew or purchase vehicle license. $15.38
of this fee is returned to New Life Resources, Inc. A pro-life non-profit 501 c3 organization
in Nashville
responsible for disbursing the funds.
Following a
long struggle to pass and defend the life-affirming specialty plate,
pro-life Tennesseans have reason to rejoice having met each challenge with
focus and determination which ultimately resulted in victory.
· Following vehement committee opposition from
pro-abortion legislators, the plate passed 26-4 in the state Senate and
80-14 in the state House. Pro-life supporters across the state
overwhelmed pro-abortion legislators with calls and emails demanding fair
treatment for the Choose Life
plate.
· Pro-Life Tennesseans again demonstrated broad
support for the plate and completed the required pre-sell of 1,000 plates
faster than any other specialty plate. 1,265 plates were reserved in
just 6 months including drivers from every one of Tennessee’s 95 counties!
· Following passage, Tennessee
Right to Life
committed to do everything possible to defend the plate. As a result,
TRL assisted in obtaining high profile legal counsel and assisting sister
non-profit organization, New Life Resources, in becoming recognized as an
‘intervening defendant’ in the pro-abortion lawsuit against the state and
the Choose Life plate.
· In 2004, pro-abortion U.S. District Court Judge
Todd Campbell struck down the plate as violating Freedom of Speech.
Though pro-abortion Governor Bredesen refused to
allow the Attorney General or state resources to defend the plate, New Life
Resources successfully appealed the wrong decision to the 6th
Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati.
In March of 2006, the Appeals
Court agreed that the plate is constitutional.
· More than 12,000 promotional Choose Life ‘front plates’ are sold across the
state to assist in underwriting legal defense of the plate.
· ACLU of Tennessee
appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court which refuses in June of 2006 to take up
the challenge, thereby allowing for the production and distribution of the
plate.
Now the
challenge to pro-life Tennesseans is to make the Choose
Life plate one of the best selling
in order to demonstrate our commitment to raising awareness, protecting
life and targeting resources to agencies which help women and families to
choose life!
For
more information on obtaining your Choose Life
plate, call our statewide toll free hotline:
1-877
CHOOSE LIFE (1-877-246-6735)
or info@newliferesources.org
Choose Life – It Happened!
That’s right, we
can now save lives, help women avoid the heartbreak of abortion, and help
adoptive families have babies to adopt in Tennessee.
How can you
help? By
purchasing an official state-issued Choose Life
specialty license plate you show support for life while also generating
funds to promote and assist women to choose adoption.
What’s the
cost?
The Choose Life specialty
license will cost an additional $35 per year, every year, $15.38 of which
goes to promote the pro-life message through advertising, adoption
coalitions and direct support to life affirming agencies across Tennessee.
How do you
get one for your car? You can obtain one by visiting your county clerk’s office now or
when your current license plate expires.
Click here for a listing of
county clerk’s offices. Click here for more
information about Tennessee
specialty license plates.
Who gets the
money?
Current partner agencies receiving proceeds each quarter include: Abortion
Alternatives and Women’s Center (Elizabethton), Agape House
(Martin), Bethany Christian Services
(Chattanooga, Knoxville, Nashville, Memphis), Birth Choice Pregnancy Resource Clinic
(Jackson), Birthright of Memphis, Care Net Pregnancy Services
(Dickson), Choices Pregnancy
Resource Center (Chattanooga), Choices Resource Center (Oak
Ridge), Choose Life of Northern Alabama (Huntsville), Confidential Care for Women
(Covington), First Choice Pregnancy
Counseling Center (Shelbyville), Full Circle Women’s Center
(Athens), Grace Pregnancy Resource Center (Nashville), Hope
Clinic (Nashville), Hope Pregnancy Center (Clarksville), Hope Resource Center (Knoxville), In His Image Pregnancy Center
(Lewisburg), Life Choices of Dyersburg, Life Choices of Memphis, Life Outreach Center (Jefferson
City), New Hope Pregnancy Center (Cleveland), Open Door Pregnancy Center (Springfield), Plateau Pregnancy
Services (Crossville), Pregnancy
Care Center (Old Hickory), Pregnancy
Center of Columbia, Pregnancy Resource Center (Maryville), Pregnancy
Support Center (Murfreesboro), Tomorrow’s Hope Pregnancy Center
(Paris), Women’s Care Center (Dayton, Sevierville).
Who is New
Life Resources? Affiliated
as a benevolent outreach of Tennessee Right to Life, New Life
Resources is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization
incorporated in 1995 to proved direct resources
for women and families facing difficult or unexpected pregnancies.
How can life
affirming agencies apply for funds? Participating agencies must complete and return
an application to New Life Resources signifying agreement with core
principles and acceptance of criteria. Funds are meant to provide
support for the expansion of outreach efforts rather than to
underwrite existing programs. New Life Resources additionally
requests agency assistance and participation in promotion of Tennessee’s Choose Life specialty license plate program
through use of the plate image and information in agency publications,
events, websites and mailings. Click here to request an
application by email.
How can I promote the Choose
Life plate in my community? New Life Resources and Tennessee
Right to Life
have developed posters, flyers and bulletin inserts with the plate image
and information about the program. Click here to request
information or materials.
For questions, call 877.CHOOSE LIFE (246.6735)
CANNOT PURCHASE AN OFFICIAL CHOOSE LIFE PLATE...
Click
here to order a front bumper promotional Choose
Life plate.
|
