Bioethics
Tim Tebow and his mom are causing a circus of flurry among liberals with an anticipated 30 second pro-life ad during the Superbowl. Pam Tebow contracted dysentery while a missionary and was advised to abort her son rather than risk fetal defects. She refused, and Tim turned out to be not only one of the greatest athletes in sporting history, but likely one of its most worthy role-models.
Abortion groups immediately condemned the ad, which hasn't been released and apparently never actually mentions abortion, favoring the theme: "Celebrate Family, Celebrate Life." NOW described such a message as "extraordinarily offensive and demeaning." Even some pro-choice advocates have been stunned by the hypocrisy and venom of their movement, leading a pro-choice WaPo column to scold that these fraudulent feminist groups "aren't actually 'pro-choice' so much as they are pro-abortion." Even the presidents of Planned Parenthood and the serpentine Catholics for Choice are alarmed by the vitriol (the pro-choice article contains useful statistics).
In case you were doubtful as to the need for moral advertisement, the WaPo also reports on the newest twist in broadcasting innovation: a "faux-reality Web-based docudrama featuring actors trying to decide whether to have an abortion." Viewers will be asked to cast votes - American Idol style - to decide whether the mothers abort. Tim Tebow, how we need thee now!
CBS' woman hating and homophobic "broadcast standards" have permanently cost them this viewer.
"Pam Tebow contracted dysentery while a missionary and was advised to abort her son rather than risk fetal defects. She refused..."
The only problem with that little narrative is that abortion is illegal (under ANY and all circumstances) in the Philippines, and the law making it so has been in effect since 1930. So, unless Tim is a lot older than he looks, I think "BS" has been called on this particular script for an ABC After-School Special. Had she got an illegal abortion, she could have received 2-6 years in the clink.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_in_the_Philippines
https://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/pam-tebow-liar-abortions-were-illegal
Of course, the real issue in all of this isn't the brave non-choice (law) that Tebow made (abided by), it's that "liberal-media" CBS is completely silly in their policy against running advocacy ads:
csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2010/0130/Why-Tebow-and-not-gay-dating-ad-CBS-on-Super-Bowl-hot-seat
Was it also illegal for her to leave the Philippines, since she was a missionary? I am just asking if she might not have returned to the states to abort, if she had wished to do so. Where was Tim Tebow born?
It took 10 seconds of Google to turn up this:
https://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/15/world/asia/15iht-phils.html
So despite it being illegal, abortions take place in the Phillipines, in 2005 and no doubt back in the mid-80's.
This does not prove Pam Tebow's assertion. But neither does a Wikipedia article about the abortion laws in the Phillipines disprove it.
We live in a culture where all manner of pop culture crap is run across our eyes on a daily basis. MTV, for example, is a cultural sewer. Nary a peep. Yet a relatively innocuous ad is proposed for the Superbowl and panties in New York and California get bunched up on cue.
The world is off its collective rocker.
Well, that's true Dan. She could have always procured an abortion by buying some dodgy black-market chemical mixes on the street, or going to an illegal, underground facility, or just utilizing whatever her imagination could come up with, and try to do it on her own. But seeing that she could not have had a legal abortion in a clinical environment, that changes the nature of her so-called refusal.
Or she could leave the Philipines, go to a country that was not Catholic, say Japan or Hong Kong, go to a decent hospital and follow the doctor's advice, thinking it would save her own life. She didn't.
I can well imagine a scenario where a doctor simply spells out the risks and alternatives available to Pam Tebow.
It may be illegal to perform the abortion in the Phillipines, but I doubt very much it's illegal for a doctor to include it as part of a discussion of options.
1987 was not the dark ages. Flights out of the Phillipines would have been readily available. Kate's point about securing the abortion elsewhere is spot on.
The main point here is that abortion was among Pam Tebow's considerations, and she opted to carry to term. That's it. Simple.
You're making too much out of this, Craig.
Anybody who doesn't respect human life should be shot.
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