Abortion used to be a private matter between a woman and her doctor, but when the family of Tim Tebow is involved then it's everybody's business. That was the liberal narrative in 2010 when, in a Super Bowl commercial, Tim thanked his mother Pam for giving him the gift of life. Liberals cried "foul!" then and now USA Today has named it among the most controversial Super Bowl ads of all time.
Josh Hafner's slanted USAT piece today said the Tebow ad "didn’t mention abortion. But it reminded people that Tim Tebow’s mother, Pam Tebow, was advised to abort him. And that made some people very angry."
Eight years ago ABC's Brinda Akhikari recounted the story of when Tim's parents were in the Philippines and Pam's recovery from an illness was threatening her pregnancy with Tim. The medicine used to heal her from amoebic dysentery threatened her unborn child and doctors advised her to abort. She declined and Tim grew up to make history as a Heisman Trophy winner and pro athlete.
Here's the transcript for the 30-second Super Bowl commercial sponsored by Focus on the Family:
Pam: I call him my miracle baby. He almost didn’t make it into this world. I can remember so many times when I almost lost him. It was so hard. Well he’s all grown up now, and I still worry about his health. You know, with all our family’s been through, you have to be tough…
Tim tackles his Mom.
Pam: Timmy! I’m trying to tell our story here.
Tim: Sorry about that, Mom… You still worry about me, Mom?
Pam: Well, yeah, you’re not nearly as tough as I am.
The ad closes with text urging Super Bowl watchers to visit the Focus on the Family web site at http://FocusOnTheFamily.com for the full Tebow birth story.
Akhikari's story in 2010 called this harmless ad a "controversial" message paid for by "the conservative Christian group Focus on the Family." She said the ad created a "mild uproar" and that "polarizing" ads are usually rejected by the major television networks.
A national coalition of women's groups demanded CBS reject the pro-life ad. Jehmu Greene, president of the Women's Media Center, said the ad inserted "an exceedingly controversial issue into a place where we all hope Americans will be united, not divided, in terms of watching America's most-watched sporting event." That organization is in no position to talk of unity, not after 60 million Americans have been aborted.
Hafner followed the same line that the Super Bowl is supposed to bring people together. "But most years, amid commercials of talking animals and B-list celebrities, at least one advertiser decides to make things controversial."
The Tebow ad made Hafner's headline and was listed second overall in an unnumbered list. The first ad featured in the story was the 2017 ad by 84 Lumber featuring a Hispanic woman and her daughter illegally entering the United States. This was made possible because someone modified a border wall with a door for illegals to walk right through.
Hafner writes, "The dramatization put faces to the migrants who make often perilous journeys to reach the United States. The ad's extended version ended with the family encountering a wall only to overcome it. The ad, not two weeks after President Trump's inauguration, stirred plenty of uproar (and confusion)."
We're 11 days away from the next Super Bowl and already controversy has erupted over commercials. The NFL is drawing deserved criticism for rejecting a respectful ad sponsored by AMVETS that calls for football players to stand for the national anthem (#PleaseStand).
