NEW ORLEANS — Sidestepping larger constitutional questions, a federal appeals court rejected a challenge to Louisiana anti-abortion license plates bearing the message “Choose Life,” saying the lawsuit involved a tax issue that belongs in state court.

Attorney General Charles Foti said he was pleased with the ruling. Barring an injunction pending further appeals, the state should be able to sell specialty license plates again in about 21 days, Foti said in an interview.

Yesterday’s ruling by a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reverses a U.S. District judge’s ruling that outlawed not only the Choose Life plates but also Louisiana’s entire system for approving and issuing car plates with a wide variety of messages, including kudos to war veterans and entreaties to save the Louisiana black bear.

Fights over what can and cannot be emblazoned on a Louisiana license plate date back to 1999, when lawmakers easily approved the anti-abortion “Choose Life” plate, available for an extra $25, with the added revenue dedicated to agencies that help women with unplanned pregnancies and those considering adoption.

Abortion-rights proponents complained that the state does not offer those with other political views a similar way to express their beliefs. An attempt to create a “choose choice” tag failed in the Legislature in 2002. A bid for a specialty plate for gay rights died during the 2003 session.

U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval ruled in 2003 that the state’s system for issuing specialty plates — including those with less controversial messages — violates the right to free speech because the Legislature chooses who gets the tags and the money.

But the 5th Circuit panel sent the case back to Duval yesterday with orders that he dismiss it. The panel agreed with the state that the charge for the license plates constitutes a tax, and that the federal Tax Injunction Act puts the issue in state courts.

Judge Edith Jones wrote the opinion in Henderson v. Stalder on behalf of herself and Judges Grady Jolly and Edward Prado.

The ruling was a blow to abortion-rights activists who were buoyed earlier this year when the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a lower-court ruling that said similar South Carolina license plates, also bearing the slogan “Choose Life,” violate the First Amendment because abortion-rights supporters weren’t given a similar forum.

Abortion-rights lawyer William Rittenberg disagreed with the 5th Circuit panel’s assertion that the charge for the plates is a tax, rather than a fee.

“It’s like saying if you go to a state museum and pay to get in that it’s a tax,” Rittenberg said.

And he decried what he said was the court’s failure to address the heart of the issue.

“They’re ducking the issue of whether or not it’s viewpoint discrimination and giving the state a device to discriminate,” Rittenberg said.

Foti said it was not a matter of an issue being ducked. The court simply agreed with the state that federal court was not the proper venue for the issue.

Rittenberg said a decision would be made later on whether to ask for a rehearing before the full 15-member 5th Circuit, go to the U.S. Supreme Court or go to state court.