Slate's William Saletan must hate happy endings. At least that's what you'd think after reading "The Invisible Dead." No, that's not the title of some new horror best-seller - it's the headline of his article about football star Tim Tebow's pro-life ad.
In it, Saletan argued that the Tebows were "lucky" and went on to expose the "grisly truth about the Super Bowl abortion ad." That "truth" was the idea that dangerous pregnancies carried to term often kill the baby and the mother.
"On Sunday, we won't see all the women who chose life and found death. We'll just see the Tebows, because they're alive and happy to talk about it," Saletan wrote.
"The story is about Tim's birth in 1987, when his parents were missionaries in the Philippines," Saletan continued. "According to Pam's account in the Gainesville Sun, she contracted amoebic dysentery and went in a coma shortly before the pregnancy. To facilitate her recovery, she was given heavy-duty drugs. Afterward, doctors told her the fetus was damaged. They diagnosed her with placental abruption, a premature separation of the placenta from the uterine wall. They predicted a stillbirth and recommended abortion."
Pam Tebow, however, said she had faith in God and refused to abort the baby. Now, 22 years later, what was once her choice has become a Heisman-winning college quarterback. It's a feel-good story - one that is obviously pro-life but without lecturing or preaching. It's just a happy story. And according to Saletan, that was the problem.
"Pam's story certainly is moving," Saletan admitted before arguing that the Tebow's should not be role models for "abortion decisions."
"But as a guide to making abortion decisions, it's misleading. Doctors are right to worry about continuing pregnancies like hers. Placental abruption has killed thousands of women and fetuses. No doubt some of these women trusted in God and said no to abortion, as she did. But they didn't end up with Heisman-winning sons. They ended up dead," Saletan concluded.
While life-or-death situations certainly shouldn't be treated lightly, the Tebows aren't badgering pregnant women who have "a premature separation of the placenta" to have their child no matter what. (We don't know if she'll even mention her exact condition in the ad since it hasn't aired yet.) According to the press release, it's simply a "personal story centered on the theme of ‘Celebrate Family, Celebrate Life.'"
