So, it turns out that pro-abortion groups aren’t as pro-choice as they’d like you to believe. Even if you aren’t necessarily arguing against legalized abortion, and are only asking that you choose life instead, they still get pissy.

It’s just so shocking. I’d have never figured that pro-abortion groups would be against choice!!

Tim Kaine, the Virginia governor and President Barack Obama’s hand-picked choice as the head of the Democratic National Committee, infuriated abortion-rights groups Monday by signing legislation that gives abortion foes a long-sought victory.

Kaine brushed off intense lobbying by abortion rights supporters in Richmond to sign a bill that allows Virginia motorists to advertise their anti-abortion views by sporting “Choose Life” specialty license plates.

The revenue from the specialty plates would go to crisis-pregnancy centers, which many abortion-rights backers believe proslyetize against abortion and encourage women to keep unwanted children.

If Kaine were merely the governor of the Old Dominion, the move might have been less notable. Kaine—a Catholic who says he is personally opposed to abortion but pledged to leave the right to choose intact—won office in Virginia partly by seeking to reassure social conservatives.

But he is now on a national stage. And his decision could echo among women’s activists who are among the most powerful financial supporters of the party.

“It is surprising that Governor Kaine would do this, but it’s all the more surprising that he would do it as chair of the DNC,” said Paulette McElwain, the president of the Virginia League for Planned Parenthood.

McElwain exchanged numerous calls with the governor’s office over the license plates and organized a grass roots effort that logged more than 2,000 calls to the governor’s staff.

“We provided him with abundant information,” she said. “We’re terribly disappointed that he decided to sign it.”

In Washington, NARAL/Pro-Choice America channeled more than 17,000 emails and 200 calls to the DNC urging Kaine to veto the bill.

“It is unfortunate that, even after receiving thousands of messages from Virginians and pro-choice activists across the country, Gov. Kaine has opted to sign a bill that advances a divisive political ideology at the expense of women’s health,” NARAL/Pro-Choice America president Nancy Keenan said in a statement.

The “Choose Life” plate was among a number of designs approved by Kaine, including one honoring the Washington Capitals professional hockey team. To request a plate, a group must get at least 350 people to prepay a $25 fee.

Kaine defended the move by pointing out that Virginia has a “long-standing program” allowing customized license plates and said that if Planned Parenthood applied for a plate he would grant it.

“I sign this legislation today in keeping with the Commonwealth’s longtime practice of approving specialty plates with all manner of political and social messages,” Kaine said in a statement.

“Furthermore, if Planned Parenthood—an organization that is already a recipient of state budget funds—or another similar organization ever chooses to seek a specialty license plate in Virginia, I believe the Constitution would require the state to approve that plate to protect against any viewpoint discrimination.”

It’s funny to me that a group that uses the words pro-choice to describe themselves would get so worked up over a license plate that says “Choose Life”. If the abortion movement really was about simply giving women the right to choose whether or not they had an abortion, then the words “Choose Life” wouldn’t be so threatening to them. But groups like Planned Parenthood have a vested interest in seeing women choose abortions over keeping their children. It’s a lucrative business. If women start choosing to keep their babies, abortionists lose money. And they can’t have that, can they?

Also interesting is how quickly the pro-abortion groups were willing to trample all over the free speech rights of pro-life Virginians, all in the name of… what, exactly? They’re accusing Gov. Kaine of advancing a “divisive ideology”, but isn’t that what NARAL & Co. are doing? If they’re so concerned about it, then why don’t they design their own license plate? I’d imagine it’s because they aren’t concerned with equality or free and open discourse; they’re concerned with shutting up the pro-life argument altogether.

Oh, and also, don’t forget that apparently, if Planned Parenthood gets their own plate, it will mean crazy pro-lifers will go on child-killing rampages, according to one commenter, andreac:

Gov Kaine says Planned Parenthood can get their own plates? When the “pro-life” advocates blow up the cars with the Planned Parenthood specialty plates, and with the children inside, what will Tim Kaine do to put the bodies back together?

Because it’s pro-lifers who are the biggest threats to children in the abortion war, not pro-choicers.

Hat Tip: Hot Air