By Jos Truitt • @jostruitt • 13 years ago

Anti-choice license plates in MA

Massachusetts, the state where I grew up and that many people assume is a lefty paradise, will be offering motorists anti-choice license plates. The plates, which read “Choose Life” and will direct funds to crisis pregnancy centers, are available in over twenty other states already. Compare that to four states with pro-choice plates.
Crisis pregnancy centers are in the business of keeping women from accessing abortion, and regularly give out false and misleading information to achieve that goal. And now we’ve got one more state that will be directing license plate funds to these ideologically motivated fake clinics.
Apparently God’s a supporter of the plates according to Merry Nordeen, who led the campaign to get them approved, though that didn’t help expedite the process in a state with no legislative hurdle for new license plates:

“I prayed really hard for this — I prayed for seven years, and God didn’t disappoint me,” she said in a phone interview.

So your God’s a big fan of deception then? Isn’t lying supposed to be a sin?
There are currently no plans to introduce pro-choice license plates that would fund real and unbiased reproductive health clinics in MA. Um, why not?

Boston, MA

Jos Truitt is Executive Director of Development at Feministing. She joined the team in July 2009, became an Editor in August 2011, and Executive Director in September 2013. She writes about a range of topics including transgender issues, abortion access, and media representation. Jos first got involved with organizing when she led a walk out against the Iraq war at her high school, the Boston Arts Academy. She was introduced to the reproductive justice movement while at Hampshire College, where she organized the Civil Liberties and Public Policy Program’s annual reproductive justice conference. She has worked on the National Abortion Federation’s hotline, was a Field Organizer at Choice USA, and has volunteered as a Pro-Choice Clinic Escort. Jos has written for publications including The Guardian, Bilerico, RH Reality Check, Metro Weekly, and the Columbia Journalism Review. She has spoken and trained at numerous national conferences and college campuses about trans issues, reproductive justice, blogging, feminism, and grassroots organizing. Jos completed her MFA in Printmaking at the San Francisco Art Institute in Spring 2013. In her "spare time" she likes to bake and work on projects about mermaids.

Jos Truitt is an Executive Director of Feministing in charge of Development.

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