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Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: High Court Declines Anti-Abortion License Plate Case

The Supreme Court refused Monday to consider appeals from abortion rights groups wanting to block states from issuing car license plates bearing the message "Choose Life.''

About a dozen states allow drivers to pay extra for the specialty car tags to show the car owner's opposition to abortion.

Justices said they would not look at tag laws in Louisiana and Tennessee.

Abortion opponents contend they have a free-speech right to broadcast their own views on their car tags. Proposals to offer car owners an alternative "Choose Choice'' plate failed in both state Legislatures.

A federal judge ruled that Louisiana's system for issuing specialty plates is unconstitutional because the Legislature decides who gets the tags and the money.

That decision was overturned by a federal appeals court panel, which found that the challenge amounts to a tax dispute that belongs in state court. And by an 8-8 vote, the full 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to reconsider the case.

A federal judge had found that Tennessee's tag wrongly promoted only one side of the abortion debate, but the decision was overturned by an appeals court.

Justices have refused in the past to deal with similar disputes. Last year, the high court 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 cases are Keeler v. Stalder, 05-1222, New Life Resources v. American Civil Liberties Union, 05-1483, and American Civil Liberties Union v. Bredesen, 05-1389.