Life Bill passes, enjoys support of area representatives

The Choose Life License Plate bill passes Texas Senate with a majority vote of 20-9.

The Choose Life License Plate bill passes Texas Senate with a majority vote of 20-9. It now moves into the House. This bill is of interest to Catholic advocates statewide as it is one of the bills they spoke to their representatives about on their visit to the State Capital on March 31. The bill which was co-authored by a large number of representatives, some 76 people including the area's Reps Todd Hunter District 43, Abel Herrero, District 34, and Tara Rios Ybarra District 43 and Geanie W. Morrison, District 30. If passed the Choose Life License plates would help to provide much needed funds for women in crisis pregnancy situations who are interested in putting their babies up for adoptions. The ultimate hope is reducing the number of abortions and giving babies a chance to live.

The bill calls for the Texas State Department of Transportation to issue specially designed license plates that include the words "Choose Life." The license plate would cost approximately $30. After deducting administrative costs the revenue would be put into a special "Choose Life" trust fund. Non-profit agencies that provide adoption services would be able to request grants from the fund for a large variety of services to aid both the mother and infant. At least 50 percent of the Choose Life funds they receive must be spent to provide for the material needs of pregnant women who are considering placing their children for adoption, including the provision of clothing, housing, prenatal care, food, utilities, and transportation, and to provide for the needs of infants who are awaiting placement with adoptive parents. The remainder may be used to provide counseling, training, advertising, and pregnancy testing. Similar programs exist in other states and have been proven to be successful. Deborah Shearer, Director of Respect Life Ministries of the Diocese of Orlando states, "Since August of 2000, the Choose Life license plates have raised over $5 million dollars for agencies that promote adoption and provide loving alternatives for pregnant women in crisis. The funding, however, is exceeded by the educational benefits of this simply yellow tag adorning 40,000 vehicles throughout Florida. We may never know how many lives have been touched by the simple message of the Choose Life' tag, but we have a wonderful opportunity now to work together to multiply those numbers."

Area Catholics of the Diocese of Corpus Christi are urged to contact their representatives asking that they support this bill. While a number of representatives whose districts fall within the diocese are coauthors of the bill. A number are not and need to be contact with a positive message for life. The bill has the support of the Texas Catholic Conference, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Second Look Project, National Catholic Bioethics Center, and the Pontifical Academy for Life.