Reproductive Politics

Apparently, having Planned Parenthood linked to your university research is not a good idea. An article in  Insidehighered.com  indicates that North Dakota State University bowed to political pressure in killing a $1.2 million federal grant to scientifically study comprehensive sex education programs-- in other words, sex education programs that would include information about contraception. Two NDSU professors won the grant after state government officials declined to apply for it: The professors, Brandy Randall and Molly Secor-Turner,   planned to use the three-year grant for a sexual education program for at-risk teens in the Fargo area, programming developed in partnership with the region’s Planned Parenthood office. North Dakota State's president froze the grant for legal review-- but telegraphed the eventual outcome, which would be to kill the grant-- after conservatives got wind of it and started complaining, arguing that it violated state law: The state’s ...

Last week, I discussed how North Carolina's "Choose Life" license plate program was designed in a way that ran afoul of the First Amendment. Pro-choice politicians in other states with pro-life license plate programs are going to use the court decision as a platform to challenge their own state programs. A legislator in Georgia is on the case already. Defenders of the pro-life-but-not-pro-choice-plate programs will try to distinguish their policies from North Carolina's, but I am skeptical. The key would be to argue that their program, unlike North Carolina's, does not discriminate within a government-created public forum (license plates) where 'private' speech takes place, but instead is a direct expression of a government viewpoint. If other courts issue rulings that uphold other state programs, the issue is likely to end up at the United States Supreme Court. Links: Article in the Atlanta Business Chronicle (December 12, 2012): Georgia lawm...

Like many states, North Carolina allows different groups to promote their view of the world by developing their own specialty license plate, thereby getting their message out and, through specialty plate fees, raising money for a favored charity. We have this program in Pennsylvania, where one sees many university-themed plates (Edinboro alumni, for example). In North Carolina, approximately 150 specialty plates have been authorized. North Carolina legislators wanted to allow pro-life groups to use the specialty plate program to 'promote life'-- but not allow pro-choice groups the opportunity to promote their views. In opening up the specialty license plate program to pro-life groups, the North Carolina government explicitly banned pro-choice plates or the use of specialty plate fees for any pro-choice organization or activity. For this reason, federal District Court judge James C. Fox placed a permanent injunction on the "Choose Life" plate program. The First...