Former Fetuses Unite: So What, Really, Is the Problem with the Tim Tebow Ad?
By Kyle-Anne Shiver
My husband, a former college football player and stalwart fan still, has been telling me tales about Tim Tebow ever since the young man played his debut season at the University of Florida. Not only was this kid a super-great champion of the gridiron, proclaimed my totally jock husband, he is the kind of young man who stands upon his faith with uncommon strength and pride.
The first time I saw Tim for myself and spotted his now famous use of Bible verses in his under-eye paint, I must admit I was wowed. Admittedly, I was more impressed by Tim’s willingness to stand proud on his faith than on his prowess with a football, but even I must admit that winning the Heisman Trophy is no small feat.
So, now Tim has played his final season at the University of Florida, having brought his family, his friends and his school much reason for pride. And he has chosen, along with his mother, to make a profound revelation to the world at large regarding his even being alive. His mother, advised to abort for health reasons, chose instead to bring Tim’s life to fruition. And what a life Tim has had so far.
It’s a strong, irrepressible argument for the very real fact that no mother ever knows, in advance, what the child she and her male partner have conceived, may one day become.
But this is just a scientific, logical fact. Every single person walking this earth today is a former fetus, who was once totally reliant on the beneficence of his or her mother’s womb. We were all of us once embryos, once fetuses and once infants, not the least bit capable of surviving without care-giving.
Anyone who can read a middle-school biology book knows this much about human beings.
PRO ABORTION ADVERTISMENT
And no life is predetermined. No one has the omnipotence to gauge what possibilities each and every human life holds. Not mother, not father, not government, not society.
These are irrefutable facts, not controversies.
Yet, so-called feminist groups and “pro-choice” advocates around the country are throwing a nationally broadcast hissy fit over CBS’ decision to air this “controversial” statement by Tim Tebow and his mother.
What’s the problem?
Could the problem for pro-abortion interests be that the term, “pro-choice,” keeps the minds of society and all potential mothers on the very real fact that in the instance of abortion, there is a human being who is given no choice whatsoever. That human being is the child. Through no action of his own, he has been conceived. Through the very real “choice” made by both his mother and his father, he is procreated.
From day one, this embryo, this child, has his own DNA, his own unique place in the human family.
This is the fact that gets drowned out by the proponents’ arguments for abortion on demand. And it is this primordial fact that is obscured, quite successfully, by the “pro-choice” position on abortion.
The real problem with the Tim Tebow ad has nothing to do with football, nothing to do with the legalities of abortion on demand and nothing to do with all the people now living, walking, talking breathing.
It has everything to do with the value of each and every human being, the unknown possibilities of every conceived child and the profound weight of the decision that mothers and fathers made when they chose to conceive.
In the end, abortion proponents are forced to focus only on the mother’s financial, physical and emotional well-being. If they, even for one minute, stop to consider the non-choice of another human being (not to mention fathers), all their arguments to women suddenly fall on deaf ears.
Tim Tebow, with quite astounding football prowess, is one child who was allowed to live. And grow and prosper. And succeed. To the delight of his parents and his family, friends and football fans. Since 1973, 51 million Americans just like him were not given this privilege. They were killed by abortionists before they had the chance to show what they could be.
And that is a message that the abortion lobby cannot dare let come to light.
Therein lies the problem with the Tebow ad.
Such a pity. Football would probably have survived without the grace of Tim Tebow. Americans need to start asking whether our country can continue to survive the ravages of killing our offspring before they get a chance to give us their gifts.
Yes, to conceive a child is always a choice. Except in the instance of rape, a woman chooses every time a new life is created. Whether or not to end that life, which has been created, is only half a choice. The human being, who is killed, deprived of his right to continue living, is the other half of that choice.
And that’s the half that no abortion proponent can talk about.
Tim Tebow stands as living proof that abortion is a choice too far. Only when women can believe that their baby is nothing but a “blob of fetal tissue” can they see the half-choice of abortion through the rose-colored glasses supplied by the abortion lobby.
We are all former fetuses. Bravo to Tim Tebow and his mom for reminding us of that irrefutable fact.
Tebow Makes Right Choice Appearing In Controversial Super Bowl Ad
By Justin Simon
The NFL is having a backwards week. The Pro Bowl is being played before the Super Bowl. And instead of commercials featuring cute monkeys, frustrated cavemen and talking babies being the most popular water cooler topics on the Monday morning after the game, it’s a yet-to-air Super Bowl commercial garnering all the attention and discussion in the week leading up to kickoff.
In case somehow you haven’t heard, the University of Florida National Champion quarterback, Heisman Trophy winner and NFL draft hopeful Tim Tebow is going to be featured, along with his mom, in a pro-life spot sponsored by James Dobson’s conservative Focus on the Family.
Even though nobody outside of CBS and Focus on the Family has actually seen the spot, conservatives are thrilled someone is taking a pro-life stand on the biggest world stage. Liberals are livid – Gloria Allred has already threatened a lawsuit against CBS – and pro-choice activists are calling for the ad to be yanked.
If one of my clients wanted to do this spot, I’m not sure how quickly and in how many languages I’d be able to say “no.”
You’re asking for uproar, begging for backlash.
When celebrities and sports figures insert themselves into political arenas, they open themselves up to standard political tactics – come out for a hot button issue and the other side will start building opposition research case files. You want to talk about pro-life issues? You better not have a gossipy one-night stand who went to CVS the next day to get the morning after pill.
A single skeleton in the closet can torpedo your cause, crush your endorsements and, as we’ve seen with Tiger Woods, cause a fawning public to turn against you in the time it takes Tebow to run a 40-yard sprint.
Millions of dollars down the drain instantly; a permanent stigma attached to a career.
But here is where Tim Tebow is Teflon — taking this position guarantees him sponsors.
“He is the most marketable guy we’ve ever seen coming out of college,” said CNBC’s sports business expert Darren Rovell.
Tebow should do this spot because he is authentic.
From wearing eye-black patches inscribed with Bible verses to his work with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, he has never been afraid to speak his mind and publicly support his views.
In an realm where top-level athletes are instructed what to say and how to say it in hopes of developing a positive public persona that will result in landing as many multi-million dollar national sponsorship deals as possible (there’s a reason you never saw Michael Jordan take a side on any issue and why LeBron James claims to be speaking his mind while using inoffensive clichés: less controversy = more money), Tebow is the exception.
Other athletes have case files with their names on them; Tebow has laws named after him. Other athletes wouldn’t pick a side between Coke or Pepsi for fear of losing a sponsor. Tebow would not only answer, but would fervently stand by his position.
Talking about his decision to do the Focus on the Family ad, the 22-year old Tebow said:
"I know some people won’t agree with it, but I think they can at least respect that I stand up for what I believe and that I’m never shy about it. I don’t feel like I’m very preachy about it, but I do stand up for what I believe and at least you can respect that. Because I do stand up and unfortunately in today’s society not many athletes do that, to stand for something."
That’s the twist of Tebow – he can turn out to be a horrible NFL quarterback and still make millions speaking on behalf of corporations and entities that support conservative causes. He can be another Heisman flame-out and be more popular than any QB in the NFL not named Manning, Brady or Brees.
Companies with conservative bents — think Walmart, Chick-Fil-A, Ace Hardware – can quickly become heroes to a majority of their consumers by creating campaigns around him.
In what is an increasingly divided country, Tebow speaks for the half that Madison Avenue often overlooks.
Tim Tebow will be selected in this April’s NFL draft. He may never reach the Super Bowl, but for many, he’ll be remembered as the star of this one.
Gloria "Pond Scum" Allred
Gloria Allred, Pro-Abortion Lobby Jumping the Shark over Tebow Ad
By Kyle-Anne Shiver
The Huffington Post is reporting that everybody’s favorite, too-classy-for-words feminist attorney, Gloria Allred, has written a protest letter to CBS over their decision to run the Tim Tebow celebrate-life ad during this year’s Superbowl.
Ms. Allred’s complaint? That the ad (which she has not seen) will imply or state outright “false” and “misleading information.” You see, Ms. Allred contends that since Mrs. Tebow was living in the Philippines (as a Christian missionary) at the time she became pregnant with Tim, and that since Philippine law prohibits abortion, then she would not have – could not have – been advised by her doctor to have an abortion for health reasons.
Now, I’m no lawyer but I am a woman. And every woman knows full well that women were getting counseled to have abortions for health reasons before abortion became legal in the United States. In fact, doctors were performing D&Cs for women who were pregnant without a single soul outside the operating room being the wiser. Even before Roe, doctors were advising an expectant mother about health problems and risks to her pre-born child. It would surely take a fool to believe that doctors in the Philippines are so different.
Presumably, since Ms. Allred is herself a woman of mature age, she is bound to know that an American citizen, who became pregnant during the late 1980s could very easily have been advised that the pregnancy was in danger, due to prescription drugs ingested by the mother. An American citizen returning to the US from the Philippines to have an abortion – fully legal then – would have been as easy as hopping on a jet plane. Is Ms. Allred suggesting that Mrs. Tebow could not have done this if she had wanted to do it? Surely not. That would be stupid.
Must be the testosterone injections?
Considering the gargantuan expense of a 30-second Super Bowl ad, said to be from $2.5 to $3 million, I would assume – just from a common sense standpoint – that it would be impossible for Mrs. Tebow to add all the details about the medical advice she was given. Nor would it be possible for her to give the outline of Philippine abortion law, which Ms. Allred and the ladies at the Women’s Equal Rights and Legal Defense Fund seem to think is “required” by truth in advertising law.
Nevertheless, Ms. Allred has written a threatening letter to CBS, stating her intention to submit a complaint to the FCC if the ad runs without a summary of Philippine abortion law.
Yes, feminists will do everything they can to prevent the other side of the half-choice of abortion from coming to light.
In this one, though, they appear to be jumping the abortion-rights shark.
If I were prone to gratuitous sympathy, I would feel quite sorry for these women. But I’m not so prone. And I don’t feel sorry for them.
Because of them, every single day, more innocent children are killed, while growing, snugly nestled in their mothers’ wombs. Because of these women, another huge hunk of America’s future is thrown out with the medical waste at the end of every killing day at the abortion mills.
Let’s face it, the younger generations are turning against abortion in droves. As living, breathing survivors of Roe, they realize more than their elders ever could, that but for the grace of God and a good mother, they themselves would have been the medical waste. It’s a sobering reality that feminists have created for our young. Survivors guilt? Plenty.
I suspect that Tim Tebow and his mother are opening a floodgate of testimonials that will begin to drown out the women-are-the-only-ones-with-rights cacophony. Soon, very soon.
So, it’s not hard to understand Ms. Allred’s desperation.
Is it?
Why Are Feminists Trying to Abort the Tim Tebow Pro-Life Ad?
By Jill Stanek
Pro-abort blogger Jenna Henry Hansen at the Huffington Post is typical of many in her dwindling tribe who feel the need to add this caveat when discussing abortion:
"Every time I discuss abortion I find it necessary to mention that pro-choice does not mean pro-abortion. A person identifying her or his self as pro-choice supports a woman’s right to choose whether or not to be a parent at that time."
Were that statement actually true, a pro-abort would spend 50% of his or her time supporting the sanctity of preborn human life and 50% supporting the killing of preborn human life.
Of course, that’s not what happens. And I don’t know why pro-aborts are so defensive about it. Abortion kills a blob of tissue at worst or a parasite at best, so they say; big deal. The fact is that pro-aborts abhor any and all support of preborn human life. That includes conversations… for even 30 seconds.
Case in point, the ad featuring Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Tim Tebow of the Florida Gators that Focus on the Family plans to air during next weekend’s Super Bowl.
Focus on the Family is giving no sneak previews, but the spot, entitled, “Celebrate Family, Celebrate Life,” is expected to feature Tim and his mother Pam briefly sharing the story of her difficult pregnancy, for which doctors recommended abortion.
Pam and husband Bob were serving as missionaries in the Philippines in 1987 when she suffered a life-threatening illness while pregnant with Tim.
Because of the drugs used to rouse her from a coma and to treat her dysentery, the fetus experienced a severe placental abruption. Doctors expected a stillbirth and recommended an abortion to protect her life. She carried Timothy to term, and both survived.
I can’t imagine anything wrong with retelling that story, but pro-aborts have gone mad about it.
According to Reuters:
"The Women’s Media Center and over 30 other liberal and women’s advocacy groups sent a letter to CBS… saying: '…we urge you to immediately cancel this ad and refuse any other advertisement promoting Focus on the Family’s agenda.'”
The “agenda” being to send a positive message that there may very well be a silver lining to one’s crisis pregnancy… or you never know who you may abort.
I suppose pro-aborts would prefer an ad fantasizing about the abortion of Adolph Hitler.
Kim Gandy of the Feminist Majority Foundation was so upset she apparently forgot to take her daily testosterone pill before sending an email alert, causing her to commit the unpardonable sin of getting the Super Bowl game date wrong:
Kim, darling, the Super Bowl is NEXT weekend not "this" weekend. Just FYI
Kim seems to think airing Pam Tebow’s story of maternal love would lead to an anti-abortion terrorist attack. Not that it matters, since she is clearly on a John-Belushi-when-the-Germans-bombed-Pearl-Harbor roll, but CBS no longer has such a policy. According to Reuters:
"But CBS said it no longer had a blanket filter on advocacy submissions for ad slots. 'We have for some time moderated our approach to advocacy submissions after it became apparent that our stance did not reflect public sentiment or industry norms on the issue,' said CBS spokesman Dana McClintock."
Feminists have grown accustomed to their shrieking actually having some effect, but I hope CBS doesn’t back down. But even if CBS does renege and gives FOTF its money back (reportedly somewhere between $2.5-2.8 million, all from donations specifically for this venture) FOTF and the pro-life message will have already gotten millions of dollars worth of free media. And the ad will become an instant viral hit, getting millions of views.
The situation is win-win for our side.
Quarterback Tebow Answers to God, Not the Mainstream Media
By Izzy Lyman
Has Tim Tebow gone rogue by agreeing to ‘hawk life’ during Super Bowl XLIV? One advertising executive, Robert Tuchman, says that the University of Florida star quarterback’s decision to appear in an anti-abortion commercial is going to “affect his opportunities for endorsements down the road.”
Miss out on a sizeable energy drink contract, will he?
Another, John Rowady, says, “His promotion of his ‘belief system’ has built a perception throughout the league that he has a long way to mature from a business perspective…”
And this [same sort of behavior] has hurt Kurt Warner, how?
The Women’s Media Center fretted:
"CBS is aligning itself with a political stance that will damage its reputations, alienate viewers, and discourage consumers from supporting its shows and advertisers."
So, did the WMC send a similar press release to ESPN, complaining about all the times it aired Portland Trailblazers' games when [NBA star] Brandon Roy was AWOL during the playing of the National Anthem?
Well, I got three words for the naysayers: Praise the Lord.
Let’s get something straight: Tebow has never, ever kept it a secret that his faith in God, not his athletic career, is his number one priority. Apparently, as the stakes get higher, that is not going to change a whit.
By now, most of us are familiar with how Tebow has publicly advanced the Gospel – like putting Phil. 4:13 on his eyeblack and, more dramatically, spending spring break doing foreign-mission work in the Philippines, instead of heading to the beaches at Cancun. Tebow, an attractive physical specimen, has gone to great lengths to avoid being photographed with trashy girls (some of whom have wanted to take their shirts off in his presence). Indeed, Tebow’s accomplishments of the flesh, as well as his temptations of the flesh, are Herculean.
But, of course, that’s what so many love about the guy – that he is wildly successful, by the standards of a secular world, yet remains beholden only to the invisible kingdom of God.
Two years in a row I attended the Heisman Trophy press conference, a somewhat tough event to get credentials for. In 2007, the year Tim won the big bronze statue, I was sitting in the Hard Rock Café near Times Square, with a roomful of members of the hard-nosed, but somewhat geeky, sports media. You could have heard a pin drop when Tebow’s homeschooling mom, Pam, was featured during the video segment of the Heisman presentation, quoting the Bible; when Urban Meyer, Tebow’s coach, dubbed him a “strong Christian”; when his dad, Bob, said he was petitioning God, before Tim’s birth, for the Tebow family to have another preacher.
These journalists and photographers had never seen anything like the Familia Tebow; nor had college football; nor had most of the country for that matter. But, since everybody loves a winner and a good human interest story, they were, oddly, respectful. And they were learning a thing or two about the kind of spiritual village it takes to raise a new brand of world-class “contenda.”
When Tebow, the first sophomore ever to win the Heisman, arrived to speak to this mob, he exuded something not often seen in large, powerful, athletic men – a sweet spirit. Not a hint of swagger, even though he had won the right to strike the pose.
The following year, when I returned to the Heisman Trophy press conference, Tebow, apparently, had been busy proselytizing the other two candidates, Sam Bradford and Colt McCoy, about the importance of ‘giving glory to God if you win.’ Given that Sam’s from Oklahoma and Colt’s from Texas – Bible Belt country – they needed little prodding, but it likely made a difference that Tebow was creating a little spin of his own. That particular press conference turned into a meeting of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, as the three star quarterbacks took turns thanking God this, or the Lord for that. Amen.
Such is the real message of Tebow. We already know that the establishment media will be biased against this ad, even before it airs. We already know they are going to selectively report on this one. We already know the Martha Coakleys of the country are going to complain. We already even know that this great entity known as ‘the American people who live for football’ may even disagree with all of the ‘experts’ and silently approve of this commercial.
Thank you, Tim Tebow, for teaching so many of your elders that you really can do all things through Christ, who strengthens you. (Philippians 4:13).
