Choose Life License Plates are Not About Adoption

I strongly oppose the "Choose Life" license plate program that is being introduced in various states across our nation. The Choose Life, Inc. organization wants us to believe that it supports adoption. They tell us, "The Choose Life license plate is "coming of age" in 2003. Adoption is surely the answer to the tragedy of abortion."

Indeed it is not!

Historically, adoption is the process of finding homes for children who need them. Adoption is NOT about filling up homes of infertile couples. Adoption is NOT to promote the welfare of birth mothers. And adoption is NOT a way to prevent abortions. It is first, foremost and always a system to benefit live children who need families. Adoption is not and never has been a system to find homes for fetuses.

Mr.Jim Finnegan of the Illinois Choose Life program wrote these words in a recent Chicago Tribune " Voice of the People" article: "The license plates would have the words 'Choose Life' on them because this is what the birth mother wants to give to adopting parents." Mr. Finnegan wants us to believe that all birth mothers want their children to be adopted and therefore, state revenue should support them in this process.

The Choose Life folks conveniently forget to tell us about the thousands of young women all over this country who find themselves in crises pregnancies and want desperately to keep their children. They do not want their children to be adopted. . They do not want to "give" anything to adopting parents. What they do want is to be able to raise their own children. The only thing that is keeping them from that choice is money. Would the "Choose Life" license plates program give financial support to birth mothers who want to keep their children? Of course not.

I am all for raising funds to help children in need of homes. I was once a child without a home. Thanks to the system of adoption, a wonderful adoptive home was found for me.

If Choose Life, Inc. wants to raise money for adoption, then let them design a license plate that says, "Support Adoption," and earmark all of the revenue towards finding homes for children who are alive today and who need families.