I don’t know about you guys, but I was hoping to spend Sunday evening watching the Saints beat the Colts, The Who play "Baba O’Reilly" at halftime and some creative ads about Clydesdales. I was not hoping to get a side of abortion politics with my guacamole and buffalo wings. But, alas, CBS is apparently reversing a long-standing policy about not airing controversial or political material during the Super Bowl in order to air Focus on the Family’s anti-choice ad featuring Florida football star Tim Tebow.
Tebow’s mother, Pam, will be presenting an obviously difficult choice she made as an ultimatum. For those unfamiliar with the details, Pam Tebow became pregnant with Tim while in the Philippines as a missionary. Facing serious health complications that threatened her life and her fetus, doctors reportedly recommended that Pam Tebow seek an abortion. (How she would have done so in a country where abortion is illegal and punishable by jail time is another matter altogether.) Because abortion conflicted with Pam Tebow’s religious beliefs, she instead sought round-the-clock medical care throughout the remainder of her pregnancy and ultimately gave birth to a healthy baby, who later grew up to be a Heisman-winning college football star.
On the surface, this story is something pro-choice advocates should embrace, as Tracy Clark-Flory points out at Salon; Pam Tebow made the choice that was best for her and her family, and was quite fortunate to have the resources to get the medical attention she needed. It’s always wonderful to hear success stories like hers. But in this ad, we’re clearly not going to hear from anyone who made a different choice, their reasons for doing so, and their outcomes. We won’t hear from the family members of women who decided to continue a dangerous pregnancy and wound up dead, nor are we going to hear from women who chose abortion rather than take a huge medical risk and ended up leading happy, fulfilling lives, perhaps with healthy children from future pregnancies. And the worst part is that Pam Tebow, by partnering with the rabidly anti-choice Focus on the Family, will be telling women everywhere that her choice should not have been a choice at all.
Women everywhere should have the right to weigh the same risks and considerations that Pam Tebow did, and make whatever decision is best for them. It’s a shame that we’ll only be hearing about one choice in between the Clydesdales and the touchdowns on Sunday. Planned Parenthood came out with a wonderful counter-ad that says exactly what should have been said if politics had to be included in the Super Bowl: everyone, be they Pam Tebow or any other woman, has the right to choose:
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