AUSTIN — Republican Gov. Rick Perry talked up his anti-abortion political views and voiced support Thursday for legislation to create "Choose Life" specialty license plates that would generate money for pregnant women considering adoption over abortion.

"I firmly believe there's no such thing as an unwanted child," Perry said at a Capitol news conference, surrounded by anti-abortion activists and parents of adopted children. "You can count on me, you can count on our team, to help guide this bill through the Legislature."

Republican Rep. Larry Phillips of Sherman, sponsor of the bill, said he's expecting to win bipartisan support for the measure when the Legislature convenes in January.

But similar bills have failed in past Texas legislative sessions. Opponents say the state has no business putting a political message on license plates and that the proposal would unfairly send money to anti-abortion organizations.

Perry is taking a higher profile role than he has in the past in supporting the legislation but did not say whether he's doing it to win support from social conservative voters in a 2010 re-election bid. Perry did say, "If there's been a more pro-life governor in Texas history, I'd be hard-pressed to name who that was."

Under the proposal, money from purchases of the license plates would be put in a special state fund. Some of it would be used to pay for housing, food and other needs for pregnant women considering adoption, not abortion. The money could not go to any agency that provides abortion or makes abortion referrals.

Perry said 19 other states make similar license plates available and that the plates have generated more than $9 million to organizations assisting women in choosing adoption.

NARAL Pro-Choice Texas accused Perry of playing politics by backing a program that has failed before in Texas and has been found unconstitutional when attempted in other states. The group said Perry is trying to garner support from conservatives in the 2010 Republican gubernatorial primary.

"There are few bills that do less to help prevent unintended pregnancies, the only cause of abortions," Sara Cleveland, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Texas, said in a prepared statement. "If the purpose of this bill is to simply support adoption agencies and families with adopted children, then a direct increase in such funding would be a more effective strategy."

Perry brushed off the suggestion that he's trying to score political points in 2010. He said he'll talk about his next election when other candidates officially enter the race.

"Right now I only know one person who's running for sure, and you're talking to him," he said.

U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison has said she's establishing a committee to explore a possible gubernatorial run and is transferring $1 million into it from her federal campaign account. Hutchison has said she supports abortion as an option up to the point that a fetus becomes viable outside of the womb. Perry has said abortion should be an option only in the case of rape, incest or endangerment of the mother's life.

Hutchison, who has two adopted children herself, doesn't view Perry's announcement of support for the license plates as political posturing for re-election, said Todd Olsen, an Austin-based consultant for Hutchison. Olsen said Christmas is a natural time to talk about adoption.

"I think it's appropriate," Olsen said. "We would wish him a merry Christmas and congratulate him on being the longest-serving governor in Texas history."

Perry reaches the milestone Friday of having been the Texas governor with the longest tenure.

Perry pointed out previous legislation passed in Texas that puts restrictions on abortion, such as requiring parental consent before an abortion is performed.

The proposed legislation states that an eligible organization receiving the license plate money must spend at least half of it for needs such as housing, prenatal care, food and transportation for women considering placing their children for adoption. The rest could be used for counseling, training, advertising and pregnancy testing.

Cleveland of NARAL Pro-Choice Texas said the bill would fund unlicensed and unregulated crisis pregnancy centers that provide biased, often medically inaccurate information through volunteers who have no medical training and don't offer recommended prenatal medical care.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas issued a statement saying it's unfair to allow a specialty license plate that benefits only one side of a political debate.

"Texans have many ways to express their views on unwanted pregnancies. They can put a bumper sticker on their car or donate to a particular cause. But when the state sets up a scheme favoring one point of view over another that violates our notion of fair play," said the group's executive director, Terri Burke.