Appeal to Pam Tebow to Protect, and Respect, Choice

by Alex DiBranco · 2010-02-03 13:42:00 UTC
Topics:

The countdown to the Tim Tebow commercial -- I mean Super Bowl -- continues. Feminist blogs have been cross-posting a letter from the blog at the National Women's Law Center (NWLC): "To Ms. Tebow at the Super Bowl: You Had a Choice."

The letter, addressing the planned controversial Focus on the Family Super Bowl ad featuring college football star Tim Tebow and his mother, Pam, begins: "We would like to give Ms. Tebow a one-person-in-a-quiet-room round of applause for having the opportunity to make the choice that was right for her." It goes on to recognize the difficult decision Pam Tebow faced during a life-threatening pregnancy, a decision no expectant mother planning to welcome a new baby wants to be confronted with.

However, women's rights groups have been justifiably concerned about the content of the ad, given Focus on the Family's anti-choice agenda to repeal Roe v. Wade. The NWLC asks Ms. Tebow not to let her family's story be used to criticize or disrespect women face with a similar situation who chose abortion as right for them. If her message is pro-life, it should also be pro-choice. There is no one right decision: it depends on the individual woman. The letter asks that Ms. Tebow not leave out the importance of the fact that she was given the opportunity to make her own decision in the story she tells. That she wasn't forced to have an abortion, or not to.

The appeal continues, "As the face of choice, we hope that you won't disregard the stories of many other women while you are telling your own. Please don't mislead the millions watching the Super Bowl into thinking that we should remove the right of choice, the one you so coveted in that doctor's office."

In response to the ad, Planned Parenthood has created a video featuring former professional football player Sean James and Olympic gold medalist Al Joyner, saying that they respect Ms. Tebow's decision -- and calling for a world where all women's decisions are respected. "We're celebrating our families by supporting our mothers, by supporting our daughters, by trusting women." This ad won't be airing during the Super Bowl (unlike Focus on the Family, which exists only to promote an anti-choice agenda, Planned Parenthood actually provides women's health services and can't drop millions on 30 seconds of airtime). But you can watch and share online.

Photo credit: Steve Rhodes

Alex DiBranco is a Change.org Editor who has worked for the Nation, Political Research Associates, and the Center for American Progress. She is now based in New York City.
PREVIOUS STORY:
Mortality Rate of California Pregnant Women Has Tripled
NEXT STORY:
LEGO Agrees to Meeting After 50,000 Denounce Selling Out Girls

COMMENTS (0)

    Comment Policy

    · All fields are required to comment.

    [X]

    Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the campaign on Change.org. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments which, as determined solely in our discretion: (1) are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; (2) include content solely intended to personally attack the campaign creator, (3) are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them; and/or (4) violate our terms of service and/or privacy policy. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion. Please also be advised that: (A) we do not actively curate and/or monitor in any manner whatsoever the comments made on the Change.org platform, and (B) the creator of each campaign on Change.org may remove any comment at her/his/its discretion.