Nothing wrong with anti-abortion ad during Super Bowl, says Tebow
My AJC colleague Orlando Ledbetter has posted this from Mobile, Ala.:
Florida quarterback Tim Tebow doesn’t understand the controversy surrounding a Super Bowl ad scheduled to air on CBS on Feb. 7.
The ad was purchased by Focus on the Family, a conservative group that stresses marriage and parenthood.
The ad’s theme will be “Celebrate Family, Celebrate Life,” according to the Associated Press. Tebow’s mother, Pam Tebow, shares the story of her difficult 1987 pregnancy. Instead of getting an abortion she decided to give birth to Tebow.
“I don’t think it’s anything that’s negative or anything like that,” Tebow said Wednesday after the South team’s practice at the Senior Bowl.
Some contend that the Super Bowl should not be used for political agendas.
“It’s a good time and place,” Tebow said. “There are a lot of people watching. It’s a great opportunity to share a very happy and special story about my mom fighting for me. There are a lot of great things in that.”
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120 comments Add your comment
Specia K
January 28th, 2010
9:31 pm
It is a pro-life add, not anti-abortion.
Byron Mathison Kerr
January 28th, 2010
9:33 pm
susan, January 28th, 2010, 9:12 pm:
The term is NOT anti-abortion but PRO-LIFE, but most of the media refuses to use the PRO-LIFE term because “anti” has more negative connotations to it.
Seems like anti-abortion and pro-abortion-choice would be the only descriptive names. Nobody is anti-life, anti-choice, or pro-abortion in an unqualified way. But I think we all accept what the various terms mean.
Bob
January 28th, 2010
9:34 pm
It’s always a good time to hear truth and combat ignorance and hatred. I’m a Georgia grad, but I think Tebow’s courage in the face of so much criticism of his beliefs is laudable. He’s sort of like a Pollack writ large. What other college player has his beliefs criticized so sharply?
Cristobal Franciso
January 28th, 2010
9:35 pm
Philly Tide Fan,
How many unborn children did you murder?
Philly Tide Fan
January 28th, 2010
9:35 pm
Cristobal Francisco’s mother should have aborted him
Bob
January 28th, 2010
9:37 pm
I have no problem calling the ad anti-killing babies for profit. What could be wrong with that?
BIOMASS
January 28th, 2010
9:42 pm
World population is 6.7 BILLION people. It’s headed exponentially upward. I’m sure all these good anti-abortion people are adopting 2-5 kids, as well as supporting orphanages and foster programs. Yeah, I thought so.
Philly Tide Fan
January 28th, 2010
9:42 pm
I have never killed anyone. I, unlike you, understand that if a woman is raped or if a condom breaks and she is not ready to have a child…it is her decision…not mine…..
Cristobal Franciso
January 28th, 2010
9:43 pm
Philly Tide Fan, You are a very sick man.
Leigh
January 28th, 2010
9:44 pm
For those that don’t want to hear the commercial there is a beautiful new invention called the mute button. Seems odd to me that so many people are so upset over a commercial that no one has seen yet.
Mrs.D
January 28th, 2010
9:46 pm
I’m pro-choice, I would rather have the Focus on the family ad than another dehumanizing, all there is to life is beer and pizza ad! (but then again I am Florida Stae Fan and have an inherant dislike of all things Gator)
Seriously people IT’S JUST A GAME, these are just commercials, at least this one has a positive message, love.
Most women I know were (and still are) guilt ridden over theit decision to abort ther child, I have days where I have to tell myself I made the decision for love. This April it will be 15 years since I had my abortion. Every time I see a teenager I feel a mixture of oh-my-what-did-I-do and what-in-the-world-would-I-DO-with-a-teenager!? I have been able to attend college and am now better equipped to be a responsible parent, and I feel the pain every day of the loss of my child. but I made a decision and I have to live withit, everyday. I can’t live in the past of what ifs.
Please remember that abortion changes a Woman’s life forever, and don’t be so hard on those of us who made that decision, we’re hard enough on ourselves. keep abortion safe, sane and LEGAL.
Philly Tide Fan
January 28th, 2010
9:47 pm
Cristobal Franciso…..you are a very sick person….grow up and realize that you can not judge people while sitting in a glass house…..so Mr. Pro-life…..I would assume that you are ocmpletely against the war? I do not see you protesting when a military drone accidentaly kills an innocent bystander….of course the reason you don’t is because you have double standards
hotdawg
January 28th, 2010
9:48 pm
Tebow is fortunate to be alive and to pursue his dream
Byron Mathison Kerr
January 28th, 2010
9:49 pm
To Hannah Carter, January 28th, 2010, 9:25 pm:
I am grateful to anyone who devotes time, energy, and/or financial resources to helping others. My comment was about those resources that go specifically into various anti-abortion activities.
But I am also grateful to all the anti-abortion advocates who are not killing doctors who perform abortions and are not harassing women who go to clinics to have abortions. So I guess I am easily grateful.
susan
January 28th, 2010
9:50 pm
@ Byron..PRO-CHOICE is a misnomer….if they were truly PRO-choice, they would acknowledge a person’s CHOICE to CHOOSE LIFE. There has to be more than one option for someone to have a CHOICE, ergo, in this instance, they must be to choose to GIVE LIFE to your child (pro-life) OR TO TAKE THAT LIFE AWAY (anti-life). Pro-choicers always kick up a fuss when someone says they CHOSE LIFE for their child.
Let’s face it, the planned parenthoods of this country disguise what abortion actually is. It IS the taking of a life. It is camoflauged by the term pro-choice. There should be an honesty about what abortion really is. IF they were to actually give the REAL facts, I am sure that many of the women who CHOOSE to have an abortion may reconsider. When I carried my daughter, she was a child, a baby, not a “fetus”. That is the language that is used in an effort to disassociate what is really happening inside your body. That makes it easier for people to have abortions…”it’s” just a fetus, “it” isn’t a baby, “it” isn’t human …YET
hotdawg
January 28th, 2010
9:51 pm
I agree with your statement
fralee
January 28th, 2010
9:51 pm
To the person who wondered “can we have an ad for the opposing view?” WE can have an ad if WE are willing to pay for it. The Super Bowl is a perfcet venue for the ad because as Tebow said “a lot of people will be watching.” If you want to get a message across you broadcast it to as wide an audience as possible. It’s called freedom of speech and free enterprise. Good for Tebow’s mom–although as a Georgia fan, my life would have been easier the last four years if she had made the opposite decision.
34
January 28th, 2010
10:07 pm
Nobody’s opinion on this subject will be changed in the least by these posts.
Mrs.D
January 28th, 2010
10:07 pm
@ susan I still mourn the loss of my child, I don’t think abortion should be as prevelant as it is, but I do think the option should be avaliable. I agree that it is a baby, I have enough guilt from my abortion to last a lifetime, but I also (thank goodness) have the love and support of my wonderful husband to help get me through those dark days of guilt and self-loathing.
I am glad that this ad has done what needs to happen most, gotten people talking and thinking.
BIOMASS
January 28th, 2010
10:08 pm
So how many of these do-gooder’s posting against abortion here have adopted unwanted children? Hummm? Speak up hypocrites!
Byron Mathison Kerr
January 28th, 2010
10:14 pm
To susan, January 28th, 2010, 9:50 pm:
I am not aware of any pro-choice on abortion advocates who only promote, or even prefer, the abortion option. That would be unimaginable! It is strictly a concern that the woman have the legal right to choose for herself to either have the child or end the pregnancy.
Philly Tide Fan
January 28th, 2010
10:14 pm
BIOMASS….you are on fire!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BIOMASS
January 28th, 2010
10:15 pm
You fools want to outlaw abortion, right? Who do you think will get abortions after that? A Senator’s daughter gets knocked up, do you think he’s not going to be able to get an abortion for her? The poor girl/ woman is going to the back street butcher with a coat hanger, while rich people get the proper care. That’s what will happen.
Cristobal Franciso
January 28th, 2010
10:18 pm
BIOMASS,
Nobody wants you. How about we abort your a$$?
susan
January 28th, 2010
10:21 pm
@ Mrs.D Thank you for your honest post. I know that for most the decision to have any abortion is not an easy one. Most of my friends have had them – and I have always been supportive because I know that the decision is not an easy one. WE ALL make mistakes in life and have difficult choices to make. And MOST of the people that I know that have had abortions DO think about that child. I can’t imagine what it must be like. But I don’t hink that institutions such as planned parenthood do anything to prepare you for what you will feel later. The environment today seems to want to make abortion like getting a root canal – it will hurt for a little while but you will be fine. They sterilize the process emotionally. They make it very off-hand, no big deal, everyone does it, etc. AS you know, it is a very difficult decision that has long term effects and needs to be taken with much more seriousness than I see people discussing. It is not simply about pro-choice.
God bless and I wish you peace…
Philly Tide Fan
January 28th, 2010
10:22 pm
Cristobal Francisco……you are now a MURDERER…..you are going to Hades to burn forever….you evil pro choicer
BIOMASS
January 28th, 2010
10:23 pm
Cristobal Franciso ,would you like to try it?
susan
January 28th, 2010
10:26 pm
@ byron, my point is that the pro-choice people do not embrace having a child as part of the choice. at least not publicly. whenever someone cones out with an ad endorsing the choice for life, the pro-choice people should acknowledge that that is one PART of a CHOICE. There are TWO choices….but they seem only to advocate one of those choices. they support those who choose to abort rather than to give life. If they only support the one, then it is NOT A CHOICE!!!
Cristobal Francisco
January 28th, 2010
10:29 pm
Biomass
Just because someone will break the law doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t have laws to protect the innocent… Please go google “late term abortion” and see the travesty and evil that is going on…
Cristobal Francisco
January 28th, 2010
10:34 pm
Biomass,
I don’t want to “try” you… I don’t go there… You need to take that to mid-town…
True Dawg Fan.
January 28th, 2010
10:34 pm
BIOMASS
I hope you realize that if you had been aborted you would not be alive to post the selfish shortsided comment you just posted. My belief is that abortion is torture to the death for the innocent unborn.
God please forgive America for accepting abortion and please remember we have never had a chance to vote on it as a free people. Thank all for having the courage to stand up for the right of those who can’t speak for themselves–THE UNBORN. I doubt you would find many aborted who would be for it if they had an opportunity to express their views.
Thanks to the AJC for letting me express mine.
BIOMASS
January 28th, 2010
10:37 pm
Cristobal Franciso ,what’s “mid-town?” Is that a code word for your ilk?
BIOMASS
January 28th, 2010
10:38 pm
So, True Dawg Fan and Cristobal Francisco, I’ll ask once again, how many unwanted kids have you adopted?
Philly Tide Fan
January 28th, 2010
10:39 pm
BIOMASS….you should google “Cristobal Francisco’s Mother”….be careful….you may pull up her escort ads from craigslist
Cristobal Francisco
January 28th, 2010
10:41 pm
Biomass
I don’t care that you’re gay… I have no problem with gay people… Unless they are unborn child murderers…
BIOMASS
January 28th, 2010
10:42 pm
Oh, I guess you’re all big talk, but not quite committed enough to actually do anything. Now what would Jebus say about that?
Philly Tide Fan
January 28th, 2010
10:43 pm
Cristobal francisco….I just googled your mom……if she keeps offering up those services for $40….she may need to make an appointment with the clinic
Mrs.D
January 28th, 2010
10:44 pm
@susan, I agree, a friend of mine had an abortion last spring, I went with her for all the appointments, the whole process was so sterile and unfeeling, I had more emotional involvement at the vet’s office when my cat had to be put down. (not that a child is like a cat, but my cat was like my son, to me) I felt the same as I did when I had my abortion. In both situations I went in with two warm beating hearts and left with one (and a soaked hankie). At least at the vet they expected and anticipated the tears. At the clinic, with my friend, it was like I can’t cry, I might upset the other patients (and I was just there to be the driver and support for a friend.)
LGB
January 28th, 2010
10:46 pm
Well the problem with all of those that say that this is a free speech issue is that CBS has in the past disallowed groups that have bought airtime to air what they have called political messages. Abortion is a hot issue where people feel very strongly about it one way or another. If it really is pay to play it should be pay to play for everyone, not just whom CBS execs political views they agree with. And for the record I am pro-choice. Check this article if you want to learn more: http://www.beyondchron.org/articles/Fundamentalists_to_Play_the_Super_Bowl_7741.html
Cristobal Francisco
January 28th, 2010
10:47 pm
BIOMESS,
So how many unwanted kids have you adopted? Are pro child murderers exempt from that?
Philly Tide Fan
January 28th, 2010
10:50 pm
Cristobal Francisco….why don’t you have the balls to answer BIOMESS before asking the same question????? You are the one who is presenting yourself to be a better person
Cristobal Francisco
January 28th, 2010
10:51 pm
Philly Tide Fan,
Your comments display a complete lack of class or intelligence. No doubt you’re from the state of Alabama.
a1agator
January 28th, 2010
10:53 pm
if men could have babies there would be drive-thru abortion clinics everywhere.
Cristobal Francisco
January 28th, 2010
10:54 pm
I am not presenting myself as a better person… Just someone who knows right from wrong… And that abortion is the MURDER of a beautiful unborn child…
Philly Tide Fan
January 28th, 2010
10:54 pm
Cristobal Francisco,
Did you not proclaim earlier that BIOMASS should have been aborted????? Nice class…..high level of intelligence….face it, you are a little queen who can not answer a simple question as it will expose your hypocritical ways…..
Iceman
January 28th, 2010
10:55 pm
I notice that everyone that is for abortion, is already alive.
Philly Tide Fan
January 28th, 2010
10:55 pm
Cristobal Francisco…..nice job of not answering my question about war….Mr. Life is so precious….you are pretty pathetic
Cristobal Francisco
January 28th, 2010
10:58 pm
Not that it’s any of your busiess but yes I have adopted 2 children…
a1agator
January 28th, 2010
10:58 pm
if men could get pregnant there would be drive-thru abortion clinics.
Philly Tide Fan
January 28th, 2010
10:59 pm
Cristobal is so full of crap…..