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WAKEFIELD, MA, June 27, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The organization that produces “Choose Life” license plates in Massachusetts needs to get over 350 more of the specialty plates registered by the end of June before they can distribute any more funds to support pro-life groups and crisis pregnancy centres.

The president of Massachusetts Choose Life, Merry Nordeen, explained to LifeSiteNews that when the organization first ordered the plates, they were required to put up a $100,000 insurance bond. This bond protected the state from any losses associated the plates, in case not enough of them sold to cover the costs of manufacturing and distributing them to the RMVs.

Under Massachusetts law, the RMV holds the bond to make sure that organizations offering specialty fund-raising plates put 3,000 registered tags on the road, before returning the down payment. If the organization doesn’t meet the 3,000 deadline, then they could be assessed and lose a portion of the bond.

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“When the plate first went on the road, we actually delivered 1,700 applications so we received a fairly good-sized sum of money from the Registry of Motor Vehicles. We immediately started sending thousand-dollar grants out to the pregnancy resource centers and asking them to just promote the plate in return,” Mrs. Nordeen said.

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“So far Massachusetts Choose Life has donated $56,212 to local pro-life non-profit groups through the plate program, with money going to opening new pregnancy resource centers, funding existing centers, and providing training for pro-life volunteers, but with $100,000 tied up further donating remains curtailed,” Mrs. Nordeen told LifeSiteNews.

At the same time, Nordeen says that she wants to assure pro-lifers that the situation is not dire.

“It’s pretty much a soft deadline — I don’t want to scare people,” Nordeen told The Anchor. “The RMV does not intend to revoke the license plate. They try very hard not to do that. But technically we haven’t yet met the initial sales quota.”

Once a total of 3,000 of the pro-life plates are registered, all money coming in from the plates will continue to reach pro-life groups even if the number of registered plates actually on the road drops below 3,000 afterward.

“We are so very close,” Mrs. Nordeen said.

“If you have been thinking about getting a Choose Life license plate but haven’t yet, now is the time.  Choose Life license plate owners can really make a difference for these centers, for the people who run them and for the women they help.”

The Massachusetts Choose Life license plates are available on the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles website.

For more information visit the Massachusetts Choose Life website here.