Tebow Super Bowl Ad Controversy Proves "Pro-abortion," not "Pro-choice"

Sarah Palin has written a note on her Facebook page on the move to oppose an ad that's scheduled to be run during the Super Bowl. The active opposition to the ad by the National Organization for Women (incorrectly named, btw) and other groups, shows just how pro-abortion, rather than pro-choice, they are.

The 30 second segment is sponsored by - and paid for by - Focus on the Family. It tells the story of Pam Tebow, mother of Heisman Trophy winner, Tim Tebow. Tebow's mother was encouraged to abort him due to medical problems.

Colorado Springs, Colo (Friday, Jan. 15, 2010) – Focus on the Family will broadcast the first Super Bowl ad in its history February 7 during CBS Sports' coverage of the game at Dolphin Stadium in South Florida.

The 30-second spot from the international family-help organization will feature college football star Tim Tebow and his mother, Pam. They will share a personal story centered on the theme of "Celebrate Family, Celebrate Life."

Jim Daly, president and CEO of Focus on the Family, said the chance to partner with the Tebows and lift up a meaningful message about family and life comes at the right moment in the culture, because "families need to be inspired."

"Tim and Pam share our respect for life and our passion for helping families thrive," Daly said. "They live what we see every day – that the desire for family closeness is written on the hearts of every generation. Focus on the Family is about nurturing that desire and strengthening families by empowering them with the tools they need to live lives rooted in morals and values."

Daly added that all the funds to air the ad came from a handful of "very generous and committed friends" who donated specifically to support the project. No money from the ministry's general fund was used.

The Tebows said they agreed to appear in the commercial because the issue of life is one they feel very strongly about.

The Washington Post reports that there has been opposition to the airing of the ad:

After learning of the ad late Monday, Women's Media Center (speaking on behalf of the National Organization for Women, the Feminist Majority Foundation and other organizations) asked CBS to pull the ad. It also questioned how and why the network, which used to forbid "advocacy" advertising, agreed to air Focus on the Family's spot, which is valued at $2.5 million to $3 million.

"An ad that uses sports to divide rather than to unite has no place in the biggest national sports event of the year -- an event designed to bring Americans together," Jehmu Greene, president of the Women's Media Center, said in a statement.

The pressure on CBS proves my earlier assertion that as a society, we in the US have moved from the 1960's slogan "Our Bodies, Our Choice," to "Our Bodies, Our Choice, and You Don’t Have Choice."

Abstinence vs "plus"

The Texas Legislature is about to reconvene and the sex ed debate in our State is already in the news. (Free subscription required.)

Unfortunately, the news article blurs the line between sex ed for all children in our schools and the problem that some of our girls have multiple pregnancies as teenagers. What little evidence we have about "abstinence-plus" vs "abstinence-only" sex ed (some of which is reviewed here and here) is never mentioned, while the fact that our State teen pregnancy rate has dropped is seen as a failure or completely ignored.

Along with many of our local physicians, I teach the doctor's portion of "Worth the Wait." The program is taught in all our county's schools. The classes begin in the 6th grader (the students are 11 and 12 years old) and continue into High School health classes (through grade 12, or 17 to 18 years old). The course consists of 16 or 17 classes, including one on STD's that is taught by local doctors and one on the legal consequences, taught by local lawyers.

The main contrast between "Worth the Wait" and "Big Decisions," the program mentioned in the article ( available for download, free, here), is that in each of the 10 to 12 lessons, the latter emphasizes condom use for those who do choose to have sex. There's even a supplemental lesson that teaches how to correctly use a male condom.

Many point out that since some teens will have sex before marriage, and that many will do so much earlier than expected, the earlier these lessons are taught, the better. However, in my experience, the kids who are having sex before 17 or 18 are the ones who are also engaged in other risky behavior, including drinking alcohol and smoking, or who are being abused. (See the story about the 18 year old young man, here.)

I'm uncomfortable with early discussions about "taking action" to buy condoms and how to use them because it seems to actually endorse the idea that there is a healthy way to have sex outside of a committed, monogamous relationship - one that 14, 15 and most 16 and 17 year-olds are not able to establish.

I believe that the best decision is the one that parents, teachers and our schools should teach. We do not talk about the safest way to drive a car before they are 16 and have passed several tests or that seat belts will protect them if they drive recklessly, we don't teach them which alcohol to drink when they are under the legal age limit, and we never tell them that if they are going to smoke, here's the way to do it.

In my "How to live a healthy life" talk that I give adolescents and teens (and sometimes adults) I talk about the physiological and medical reasons we encourage helmets for skaters, seat belts in cars, and why we discourage certain other behavior. I mention the job of the liver, the differences in the body as it matures, the risk of addiction, injury, and infections. Then, I talk about the psychological and social risks and consequences.

For instance, can you really trust someone selling an illegal drug to be honest about what he's selling you? If someone pressures you to have sex without a condom, knowing the risk of even deadly infections (yes, I talk about condoms in my office) does he even love himself, much less you?

It astonishes me how varied the apparent ages of these children are - even through the High School classes (up to age 18). Some still appear to be prepubescent and some look to be fully developed physical adults. While discussing sexual abuse, I remind the 11, 12, and 13 year-olds that in the State of Texas, that it is absolutely illegal to have sex under the age of 14.

And in every class of 6th graders, there's at least one girl who raises her hand and asks if she could go to jail.

Ethics, Conscience and Cheating

Is there a difference between matters of conscience and things you shouldn't do? If there is something that would just get you in trouble but you don't believe it's wrong, how do you decide what to do?

The blog, Adventures in Science and Ethics, is one of the ScienceBlogs that I follow. (I love her "Friday Sprog Blogging" about her kids and the discussions about being a woman and having a family in Academia.)

There's a conversation on morality and cheating:

A reasonable ethical decision is one that you can defend -- to others, not just to yourself. You can give reasons why, of the choices available, this was the right way to go.

A course of action that you are taking pains to hide -- one which you would not want to have to defend to others -- is a red flag, ethically speaking.

Being able to justify a course of action to others is a more stringent requirement than being able to justify it to yourself. Folks who see themselves as living up to a high moral standard ought to keep that in mind and make sure their deeds can meet this requirement.

I was raised on the Bible, being taught to respect the authorities and to understand that a sin is a sin is a sin. However, I have a sense of "that's not fair" when I think of putting highway speed limits on the same plane as hurting someone else or even cheating on a test.

Wesley Smith reviews Physician Assisted "Suicide"

Bioethics.com, the blog of the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity published Wesley Smith's excellent review of a British report on so-called "Physician Assisted Suicide."

PAS is not medicine in any sense of the word. Medicine, at the very least involves the intention of bringing health to the body and relief from unpleasant symptoms. It can never mean killing. We don't end suffering by ending the patient.

It's worth your time to read the excerpts.

IVF embryo donation for destruction

I've had some time to consider the report that we read last week concerning the willingness of the women and men who control the fates of the frozen embryos of their children to donate those embryos for destruction in research. The report has been published in ScienceXpress, the early posting on line of articles before they appear in print in Science Magazine. Unfortunately, it's behind a "pay wall." However, you can read the "Supporting Online Material" and see most of the report as well as the actual questions, without a subscription - or at least without being signed in.

Please note the use of words such as "assume," "likely" (twice in one assumption), "if," and the use of "somewhat likely" as equivalent to "very likely."

Since it appears to be okay to make assumptions about this subject, I have a few of my own.

I assume that anyone who has entered into in vitro fertilization and agreed to have their embryonic offspring frozen has already come to grips with the possibility that some of these embryos will be killed in the process. Those who have moral problems with the destruction of their embryos would not be as likely to have frozen, stored, "supernumary embryos" in the first place.

Furthermore, the data does result from self-reporting about theoretical intentions, which is not as reliable as actual actions.

I would like to see the answers of the 40% of women (egg donor/mothers) and the 49% of partners (men and women) who did not return the questionnaire. (Actually, that's 35% and 44% who received at least one copy of the questionnaire, who did not return it.)

I would also like to see the answers about the intentions of those respondents who did not have any embryos in frozen storage, as well as the answer to one more question: "Why haven't you donated your embryos?"

Wall Street Journal on dealing with dying parent

Thank you, Wall Street Journal, for giving us this free article on dealing with a dying family member, focusing on children who live out of town.

The best point: "Just go." You won't regret it.