PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Legislation supported by anti-abortion proponents to allow a "Choose Life' license plate in Rhode Island passed both the House and Senate Monday night.
The Senate passed the bill, introduced by Sen. Louis DiPalma, D-Middletown, by a vote of 23:13 just after similar bill had cleared the House by a vote of 39:26.
Each chamber has to approve the other's bill for it to go to the governor for his signature.
The House bill said that "The administrator of the division of motor vehicles is empowered to make available Choose Life Rhode Island special motor vehicle registration plates for passenger vehicles'' with a portion of the money going to the Knights of Columbus of Rhode Island.
Half of the $40 surcharge would go to the state and the other half to the Knights of Columbus in "furtherance of one of their missions of assisting pregnant women and their unborn and newborn infants via non-government funded programs that provide free services that promote and support the alternative choices of infant adoption and Rhode Island's Safe Haven.''
But an hour or so after the committee approved the bill, members were quietly summoned by text message back to the hearing room for an unannounced meeting, where they were told they had inadvertently voted on the wrong version.
Copies of the reworked bill are not yet publicly available, but the lead sponsor, Rep. Arthur Corvese, D-North Providence, said it steers the money to "CareNet-RI'' in Providence, instead of the Knights of Columbus. The vote this time: 6 to 4.
According to its website, CareNet "was founded in 1975 as the Christian Action Council by renowned scholar Dr. Harold O. J. Brown, with its primary focus to engage evangelicals in responding to the abortion crisis.''
'The ultimate aim of Care Net and its network of pregnancy centers is to share the love and truth of Jesus Christ in both word and deed,'' the site says.
Monday evening, the Senate Special Legislative and Veterans Affairs Committee also passed the bill, on a 5 to 4 vote. Among those voting in favor was Sen. President M. Teresa Paiva Weed.
During the earlier House Finance Committee debate, Rep. Patricia Morgan, R-West Warwick, said "we have plenty of special license plates out there. We allow a lot of groups to have them so they can advocate causes they believe in.This is a good cause for people to advocate for."
Asked if she was aware of any other plates that advance social or religious issues, she said: "I honestly don't know."
(This story was revised at 9:09 p.m.)
Updated July 1, 2013 6:09 PM