Abortion-rights advocates have asked the entire 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans to reconsider a decision made by a three-judge panel of the court that allowed Louisiana to sell "Choose Life" license plates in the state, the Baton Rouge Advocate reports (Gyan, Baton Rouge Advocate, 4/30). The three-judge panel last month reversed a July 2003 ruling blocking the state from issuing specialty license plates, including Choose Life plates. In the ruling, the panel said that the case is a state tax dispute that must be decided by state courts and sent the case back to District Judge Stanwood Duval with instructions to dismiss it. Duval had ruled that the specialty license plate system violates the First Amendment right to free speech because the state Legislature "chooses who gets specialty tags -- along with part of the money from their sales" (Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report, 4/15). The sale of each Choose Life plate raises $25 for groups that counsel pregnant women about options other than abortion (Baton Rouge Advocate, 4/30). Duval's ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed in March 2003 by attorneys from the Center for Reproductive Rights challenging the constitutionality of the state's entire specialty license plate system (Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report, 4/15). "We're hopeful to change the ruling," William Rittenberg, a New Orleans-based attorney who is representing abortion-rights advocates in the case, said. Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti (D) could not be reached for comment about the appeal, according to the Advocate.

Next Steps
The Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles has allowed motorists to retain and renew Choose Life plates since 2003, and Foti, speaking last month after the panel issued its ruling in the case, said that the state could begin selling the plates again if the full 5th Circuit Court refuses to reconsider the case, according to the Advocate. Rittenberg said he plans to appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court if the 5th Circuit Court does not reverse its panel's earlier decision, according to the Advocate (Baton Rouge Advocate, 4/30). The U.S. Supreme Court in January declined to hear an appeal of a lower court ruling that declared South Carolina's Choose Life license plates unconstitutional because the state did not offer similar plates for abortion-rights supporters (Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report, 4/29).