If you haven’t heard of this one, here’s a quick recap: “Pro-choice” proponents are up in arms over the fact that the NFL is running a “pro-life” ad during the superbowl. It happens to feature Tim Tebow and is rumored to be a description of the struggle faced by his mother when making the choice not to abort her baby due to medical conditions. Their complaint is that the NFL doesn’t run “cause” ads, and are whining about why they are allowing this one and not others.
They have a somewhat valid point. The NFL doesn’t just run any cause ads – they run specific cause ads! United Way is a “cause” – the NFL runs their ads non-stop and even requires it’s players to donate time and resources to them. It’s not exactly the most politically divisive of causes, but helping the unfortunate is most certainly a ”cause”.
Regardless of the status of a “cause”, it simply appears to me that “pro-choice” activists are only pissed off because they don’t have a good way to advertise. Sure, the pro-life side get a story like Tim Tebow, two time Heisman trophy candidate, to show the type of life that might not have been possible - a nice sweet story – and bam, they’re running during halftime. So what would a pro-choice ad look like …?
Open with a scene with a young girl having a serious talk with her mom – cut to them holding hands in the waiting room of the abortion clinic and a reassuring nod and loving tender look from mom - cut to the girl running to her mother through a field of poppies after the procedure with a big smile and a happy embrace – and fade.
Uh… no, that’s just plain creepy. Almost as creepy as those old Summer’s Eve ads. I’m sure if the pro-choice community could find some story similarly sweet and sappy, led by a football star, their ad will be ran as well. But that’d be tough, since all their potential stars have been aborted. Hard to win the Heisman from the bottom of a biomedical waste disposal bag.
Don’t get me wrong: I’m not one of those fundamentalist nut-jobs who crusade for a cause. In fact, I’m kind of the opposite – an uninspired “meh” kind of guy that doesn’t have the drive to crusade his way out of a wet paper sack. But now that I’m started on this topic, I’ll go all the way:
…and another thing about these “pro-choice” people: What “choice” are they really on about? It seems to me that they’re really anti-choice. They seem to be a little one-tracked, standing behind the idea that having an abortion is the only choice that matters. From my perspective (yes, my perspective: I’m one of those idiotic uninformed males that are forced to support whatever unilateral decision is made for the rest of our lives and god help us if we have an opinion on the subject either way), it appears there are two other choices as well – adoption and keeping the baby. Maybe Pam Tebow exercised her “right to choose” by having the baby – going against the doctor’s recommendation to end the pregnancy. I guess “pro-choice” just sounds better than any of the alternatives like “pro-death” or ”anti-life”.
But back to the NFL. I think that they can run any ad they choose to, and should cater to the crowd that will be watching. I don’t think they’re treading on anybody’s rights by doing so. If the pro-choice crowd can come up with an ad that’s as sweet and sappy as Tebow’s story, then they should be able to run it, too.
Good luck with that, pro-choicers.
