Go Saints! Go Colts! Go Abortion!?
On Sunday, Americans will unite in front of television screens across the county, but two things will divide them: team affiliation and abortion. Yes, abortion will be part of this year’s Super Bowl festivities because Focus on the Family, the uber-conservative “family values” group, has purchased an advertising slot allegedly featuring quarterback Tim Tebow’s mom discussing her decision not to terminate her pregnancy despite her doctor’s recommendation. The message being: “If I’d had an abortion, my son never would have won the Heisman.”
Although Americans are used to taking sides on Super Bowl Sunday, how will they react when they’re asked to take sides on one of our nation’s deepest cultural divides during the Big Game? Some national women’s and reproductive rights organizations, including LSRJ, have already reacted–they’re petitioning CBS to pull the ad. This seems like a reflexive, even if justified, reaction. Though I haven’t seen the ad, I’m relatively certain that if it crossed my screen on Sunday, my TV and I would have it out–as we often do when I’m blindsided by bigotry and intolerance wrapped up in American flags, bald eagles, and yes, football uniforms. However, reproductive justice organizations aren’t being blindsided by the ad, so we have the time to formulate a well-reasoned, articulate response.
Such a response might use this oppotunity to unite rather than polarize. It could communicate that reproductive justice not only stands for the right to terminate a pregnancy–in accordance with or in spite of a doctor’s recommendation–but also the right to carry a pregnancy to term and deliver a healthy baby against medical odds. Is it reprehensible that CBS has denied advertisement spots to left-leaning groups such as MoveOn and United Church of Christ yet accepted Focus on the Family’s bid? Most likely. Is it reprehensible that Mrs. Tebow made an informed decision to continue her pregnancy? Absolutely not.
Although we don’t often find ourselves on the same side of the line of scrimmage, the reproductive justice movement can use this moment to communicate that Focus on the Family isn’t the only team in town promoting healthy families and informed decisions about pregnancy and childbirth. Being pro-choice and supporting a woman’s decision to carry her pregnancy to term are not mutually exclusive. In fact, a tenant of the reproductive justice movement is ensuring that women have access to services and care necessary to safely deliver healthy babies. On February 7th, Americans will be divided over the Saints and the Coalts, but the Tebow ad doesn’t have to divide viewers over pro-life and pro-choice. Maybe we can use this opportunity to unite over the shared value of promoting strong, healthy families.
- Lauren R.S. Mendonsa