After a 16-year battle, Kansans can finally pre-order the new “Choose LIFE” Kansas license plates.
In 2002, the Kansas legislature approved the Choose Life license plate. However, the governor at the time, Bill Graves, vetoed the bill. Years of hard work by pro-life individuals and organizations was stalled.
In February of 2018, Rep. Trevor Jacobs (R-District 4) was asked by a constituent if the state had Choose Life license plates. Rep. Jacobs researched the situation to find that Kansas did not have such plates. Without delay he introduced in the House Transportation Committee, HB 2678, that would make Choose Life license plates available for purchase in Kansas. He then asked Sen. Richard Hilderbrand (R-District 13) to introduce a companion bill in the Senate, which he did.
HB 2678 was then combined with other groups wanting specialty plates. It passed both the House and Senate and was signed into law July 1, 2018 by Governor Jeff Colyer.
“Looking back, we give thanks to God for inspiring Rep. Jacobs at the time in which He did,” said Barbara Saldivar, State Director for Concerned Women for America of Kansas. “Any later and it more than likely would not have been signed into law by today’s governor.”
To date 33 states have now passed pro-life license plate legislation.
The Plate Challenge
The Department of Revenue requires that at least 1,000 plates be sold for $40 each by January 1, 2020, before the plates can go into production.
Christians for Life, Inc. and Concerned Women for America of Kansas are sharing the responsibility of collecting names and payments from persons who want the plates.
When at least 1,000 plates are sold, the information and payments will be turned over to the Kansas Department of Revenue (KDOR). Then KDOR will in turn issue all individuals a certificate of no charge that can be used to purchase the plates in their county.
The plates will then be made permanently available along with all the other issue-specific plates Kansas has to offer.
The Procedure
Click here to view and print the Choose Life brochure, which has all the information you need. You can print off extras to distribute to others, or at your church, if you desire. Or, you can send an email to order brochures to distribute. director@kansas.cwfa.org.
Fill out the back panel of the brochure, or go to chooselifeplate.com, to be one of the first 1,000 people in Kansas to obtain a Choose Life license plate.
The cost to pre-order plates is $40 per vehicle + $1.50 processing fee for online orders. Complete all fields for each vehicle you are registering. Separate payments for each vehicle are due at time of registration.
You will be emailed a receipt so you know that your order and payment have been received.
Once 1,000 registrations have been collected, KDOR will mail you a certificate to pick up your license plate in your county.
“Please pray that thousands of people will purchase these plates so that the message of life is proclaimed all over the state,” said Saldivar. “Pray these plates will detour those contemplating abortion, encourage many to minister to someone they know who is contemplating abortion, and inspire many to vote accordingly.”
Sen. David Haley (D-Kansas City) said he was concerned the Choose Life plate was inappropriate for the state government to establish as it appears to be an anti-abortion statement.
“I’m only concerned,” Haley said, “about opening the door in this particular case to one (license plate) in particular — that was the Choose Life option. … That is state sanctioned political speech.”
Sen. Mike Peterson, R-Wichita, said these plates have been used by other states and don’t necessarily implicate abortion issues. They also could be considered general endorsement of protecting life as a whole, he said.
Specialty plates available because of lowered printing costs
Other specialty plates made possible by the bill include license plates for veterans of the Korean War, Operation Desert Storm, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.
Similar attempts failed in the past because of high costs. Technology allowing digital printing of the plates have now substantially lowered the cost, according to Peterson.
“Digital printing will save our treasurer tons of money and make development much cheaper,” Peterson said.
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