The Super Bowl: No Place for an Anti-Abortion Ad

By Kim Gandy

Super Bowl Sunday on CBS-TV: Football, chili, beer, betting pools, The Who performing at halftime… and an anti-abortion ad? In the past, CBS had a stated policy to reject all message-oriented ads it deemed controversial, including ads from MoveOn.org, PETA, and the United Church of Christ, which dared to suggest that their church would model tolerance ("Jesus Didn't Turn People Away. Neither Do We"). Then came word that this year it had accepted an ad from the ultra-conservative group Focus on the Family.

Although the ad itself remains secret until game day, Focus on the Family's own publicity indicates that it will "take a position on one side of a current controversial issue." The ad reportedly features University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow and his mother (both of his parents are Christian missionaries), alleging that Tebow's mother was urged when pregnant with him to have an abortion for medical reasons, but did not.

After the announcement that the anti-abortion ad would air, the Women’s Media Center, Feminist Majority, NOW and others protested, to which CBS responded not by pulling the ad but instead announcing they had loosened their policy and would allow “message” ads. Then the network promptly rejected an advertisement from a new gay dating site, ManCrunch.com, because it featured two men watching football and engaging in a kiss. Talk about a double standard.

The implicit suggestion that pregnant women whose health is at risk shouldn't worry because nothing bad will happen is downright dangerous, even if the story is true. What the ad does not tell you is that Tebow's mother fell ill in the Philippines, where abortion has been illegal since 1930 (even to protect the woman's life) and is punishable with prison time for both the woman and the doctor. So the story that Mom Tebow was advised to have an abortion appears to be a fabrication, yet CBS has not acted on this information.

The Super Bowl television audience, one of the largest of any event on the planet, spans all ages and political positions and should not be used to promote an anti-abortion message. You can still take action: Tell CBS that using the public airwaves to promote an anti-abortion message will lose the network both respect and business.