CLEVELAND — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by abortion-rights advocates challenging the constitutionality of an Ohio law authorizing the sale of specialty license plates with the anti-abortion message “Choose Life.”

U.S. District Judge Donald Nugent didn’t rule on the merits of the case but instead found the court lacked jurisdiction because money raised by the sale of the custom plates is tax revenue for the state.

Federal law prohibits a federal court from taking action that would affect the collection of a state tax.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, which filed suit on behalf of NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio, said it was weighing its options following the judge’s Sept. 27 ruling.

ACLU attorney Carrie Davis said she believes the court got it wrong because the fee for the plates is not a tax.

In January, the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a lower court ruling that said similar plates in South Carolina violated the First Amendment because abortion-rights supporters weren’t given a similar forum to express their beliefs.

The bill sponsored by Sen. Jim Jordan, an Urbana Republican, and signed into law on Feb. 15 by Gov. Bob Taft allows motorists to pay an extra $30, with $20 going to nonprofit groups that counsel pregnant women intending to place their children for adoption.

The Republican-controlled Ohio House last year defeated a Democratic effort to include a “Pro-Choice” specialty plate.