Wisconsin citizens would be allowed to purchase special anti-abortion license plates if an assembly bill that committee members discussed at a public hearing Tuesday were to pass through the legislature.
The bill, introduced by state Rep. Andre Jacque, R-De Pere, would require citizens to pay the normal first-time special license plate fee of $15 with a recurring yearly charge of $25 if they elected to display the “Choose Life” plate, according to Jacque. Tuesday’s hearing was held in front of the Assembly Committee on Transportation.
The license plate fees not used to pay for the actual plate production would go to Choose Life Wisconsin and then get distributed to 35 pregnancy care centers in the state, which provide services to women designed to provide an alternative to abortion.
Tuesday’s hearing featured testimony from Jacque, representatives from Choose Life Wisconsin and citizens on both sides of the issue. Several legislators on the committee brought up concerns the bill would use taxpayer money to fund the license plates and that Choose Life Wisconsin does not qualify as a non-profit organization.
Jacque said in an interview the license plates would not use state funding and instead would rely on the extra charges assessed at the time of purchase. He also repeatedly testified to the fact the organization is “nonprofit” and “volunteer-driven,” during the hearing.
The De Pere legislator also faced opposition from the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League, who criticized his movement on the issue without having a hard copy of the organization’s bylaws in a press release.
Jacque said the organization was “grasping at straws” and maintained the issue was “not terribly contentious.”
