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What Tim Tebow's Super Bowl ad can teach the pro-choice movement
Washington Post ^ | Sunday, January 31, 2010 | Frances Kissling and Kate Michelman

Posted on 01/31/2010 5:37:39 AM PST by Pharmboy

Next Sunday, when millions of people tune in to watch Super Bowl XLIV, they'll see a football star off the field, too. Tim Tebow, the University of Florida's Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, is set to appear with his mother in a 30-second advertisement to be aired during the game. The spot, which has not been released, is said to feature Tebow, by all reports a humble young man who takes his faith seriously, and his mother telling the story of her decision 23 years ago to ignore medical advice and continue a risky pregnancy.

snip...

Women's and choice groups responding to the Tebow ad should take a page from the Focus on the Family playbook. Erin Matson, the National Organization for Women's new vice president, called the Tebow spot "hate masquerading as love." That kind of comment may play well in the choice choir, but to others, it makes no sense, at best; at worst, it's seen as the kind of stridency that reinforces the view that pro-choice simply means pro-abortion.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Extended News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: abortion; cultureoflife; mainstreammedia; prolife; prolifeads; superbowlads; tebow
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Michelman has taken a huge step back realizing her side has been losing lately. I was surprised to see the moderation in her long-winded article. They are going for the moderates in a moderate way...when she positions NOW as being "strident," you know she's getting the message. Perhaps the Massachusetts election had other effects than the obvious...
1 posted on 01/31/2010 5:37:39 AM PST by Pharmboy
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To: Pharmboy
Just to let you folks know: it had a different headline in the print edition:

How to be pro-choice on Super Bowl Sunday

2 posted on 01/31/2010 5:39:08 AM PST by Pharmboy (The Stone Age did not end because they ran out of stones...)
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To: Pharmboy
And this little gem in the text of the article:

People want to be inspired, and abortion is as tough and courageous a decision as is the decision to continue a pregnancy.

It is hard to find a more incorrect statement made since Gutenberg trotted out his press...

3 posted on 01/31/2010 5:46:25 AM PST by freedumb2003 (Communism comes to America: 1/20/2009. Keep your powder dry, folks. Sic semper tyrannis)
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To: Pharmboy

There is no such thing as a *Pro-Choice* movement.

There is a Pro-Abortion movement - which is genocide by any other name.

and there is a Pro-Life movement.


4 posted on 01/31/2010 5:47:50 AM PST by sodpoodle (Despair - Man's surrender. Laughter - God's redemption.)
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To: freedumb2003
True...but the fact that these two abortion crusaders would even acknowledge that having the child can be seen as courageous struck me as something that they've never done before. Perhaps I have missed their previous steps backing away from stridency and "no compromise," but the whole tenor of this piece is quite surprising to me and that is why I posted it, i.e., as a sign that the good guys are winning.
5 posted on 01/31/2010 5:50:49 AM PST by Pharmboy (The Stone Age did not end because they ran out of stones...)
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To: Pharmboy
... pro-choice simply means pro-abortion.

Many people feel this way because THIS IS WHAT IT MEANS.

Abortion is the ultimate "sacrament" in the liberal religion. The liberals have been trying for years to show that something, anything "good" could possibly come from abortion and thus, legitimize it to everyone else.

6 posted on 01/31/2010 5:56:49 AM PST by pnh102 (Regarding liberalism, always attribute to malice what you think can be explained by stupidity. - Me)
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To: Pharmboy
People want to be inspired, and abortion is as tough and courageous a decision as is the decision to continue a pregnancy.

That's the stupidest thing I've ever read.

7 posted on 01/31/2010 5:59:53 AM PST by Mr Ramsbotham (Obey the law, or you'll go to prison and be raped.)
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To: Pharmboy
... the view that pro-choice simply means pro-abortion.

That's because it does. "Pro-choicers" are not "pro-" any other choice except the choice to kill.

8 posted on 01/31/2010 6:02:12 AM PST by Tax-chick (Thou hast well drunken, man - who's the fool now?)
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To: Pharmboy

>>but the whole tenor of this piece is quite surprising to me and that is why I posted it, i.e., as a sign that the good guys are winning.<<

Agreed, but the overtone is “the good guys are winning, DAMN IT AND THEY MUST BE STOPPED.”

But it tracks the ascendancy of the pro-life movement well (as you point out).

And if the recommended commercial were made it would help the pro-life movement more than the author realizes.


9 posted on 01/31/2010 6:03:36 AM PST by freedumb2003 (Communism comes to America: 1/20/2009. Keep your powder dry, folks. Sic semper tyrannis)
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To: Pharmboy
So here's our Super Bowl strategy for the choice movement. We'd go with a 30-second spot, too. The camera focuses on one woman after another, posed in the situations of daily life: rushing out the door in the morning for work, flipping through a magazine, washing dishes, teaching a class of sixth-graders, wheeling a baby stroller. Each woman looks calmly into the camera and describes her different and successful choice: having a baby and giving it up for adoption, having an abortion, having a baby and raising it lovingly. Each one being clear that making choices isn't easy, but that life without tough choices doesn't exist.

Let's amend this a bit to make it clearer:

So here's our Super Bowl strategy for the choice movement. We'd go with a 30-second spot, too. The camera focuses on one woman after another, posed in the situations of daily life: rushing out the door in the morning for work, flipping through a magazine, washing dishes, teaching a class of sixth-graders, wheeling a baby stroller. Each woman looks calmly into the camera and describes her different and successful choice: staying happily married, getting a divorce, or purchasing a 12-gauge shotgun and blowing out her husband's brains on the kitchen floor. Each one being clear that making choices isn't easy, but that life without tough choices doesn't exist.

10 posted on 01/31/2010 6:06:38 AM PST by Mr Ramsbotham (Obey the law, or you'll go to prison and be raped.)
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To: Mr Ramsbotham
That's the stupidest thing I've ever read.

Certainly it's right up there. (Along with the "earthquakes caused by global warming" line.)

Abortion is choice made from fear, not with courage.

11 posted on 01/31/2010 6:07:37 AM PST by Tax-chick (Thou hast well drunken, man - who's the fool now?)
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To: Mr Ramsbotham

HA! Fifteen years ago they might have made that one, but they are moderating their stance these days...


12 posted on 01/31/2010 6:10:55 AM PST by Pharmboy (The Stone Age did not end because they ran out of stones...)
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To: pnh102
They said it themselves, pn102. Wasn't it Steinhem who said:

"If men got pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament."

<< SIGH >>

St. Michael, the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil......

13 posted on 01/31/2010 6:11:22 AM PST by Rocky Mountain Wild Turkey ("I have an open mind ... just not so open that my brain falls out onto the floor!!")
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To: Pharmboy
The Tim Tebow spit IS all ABOUT CHOICE, they are asking you to CHOOSE LIFE. Simple as that. ANYONE who opposes the ad is simply ANTI-BABY.

I say that as someone whose anti-abortion convictions are probably not as strong as most others here, but this add is simply GOOD and RIGHT, for crying out loud.

Oh, and I say that as something of a "Tebow hater" :)

14 posted on 01/31/2010 6:12:06 AM PST by Paradox (ObamaCare = Logan's Run ; There is no Sanctuary!)
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To: freedumb2003
You are probably right about their proposed ad helping our side...interesting point.

Another surprising thing in this piece was that it did NOT include any Christian-bashing, other than the mild shot at Focus on Family for being "anti-gay." And around these parts, that wouldn't even be considered a bash at all.

15 posted on 01/31/2010 6:15:46 AM PST by Pharmboy (The Stone Age did not end because they ran out of stones...)
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To: Pharmboy
What Tim Tebow's Super Bowl ad can teach the pro-choice movement

That they are a bunch of disgusting, nasty hags?

16 posted on 01/31/2010 6:17:34 AM PST by Minn (Here is a realistic picture of the prophet: ----> ([: {()
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To: Pharmboy

Has anyone noticed how far Tebow’s stock has fallen among the chattering class on ESPN and other sports outlets since this ad became an issue? They are demonizing his skills, abilities and everything else about him.


17 posted on 01/31/2010 6:23:55 AM PST by Russ (Repeal the 17th amendment)
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To: Mr Ramsbotham

Excellent, excellent point, Mr. R! Each is a choice. Each could arguably be a “tough” choice. That third one, though, is especially tough on somebody else...


18 posted on 01/31/2010 6:30:14 AM PST by Mrs. Don-o ("It's no exaggeration to say that the undecideds could go one way or the other." George Bush)
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To: Russ

While you may be right, many experts and amatuers (like myself) have always felt that he likely did not have the necessities for being an NFL Q-back. Perhaps a linebacker, but not a quarterback. He may prove us wrong and I wish only the best for him...


19 posted on 01/31/2010 6:33:29 AM PST by Pharmboy (The Stone Age did not end because they ran out of stones...)
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To: Pharmboy
Abortions involving rape or genetic problems probably amount to one or two percent of abortions. The abortions you'd be more concerned with are those of teenage girls and young women concerned with their lives being "ruined".

In 1955 there was essentially a lottery system in which a certain number of teenage girls had babies which were adopted by older couples, but that lottery system is not coming back. What we actually need is to somehow again make it both economically possible and respectable for young people to marry and start families in their late teens (i.e. when the human species is biologically programmed for it), in most cases while they are still in school. THAT would solve 95% of the problem; anything else is wishful thinking.

20 posted on 01/31/2010 6:34:19 AM PST by wendy1946
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