When Sports and Anti-Abortion Messages Collide and What To Do About It

A few years back, the-best-person-and-football-player-on-the-planet, Tim Tebow, the savior from The University of Florida, Heisman Trophy winner, 2010 number 25 draft pick, and now savior quarterback for the Denver Broncos, made a commercial. That in and of itself isn’t that surprising, pro-athletes make commercials for all sorts of reasons. Except he wasn’t selling football gear, he was selling anti-choice propaganda. In his commercial (funded by Focus on the Family) he reminded everyone that his mother was a missionary whose life was threatened by her pregnancy – or more specifically, the pregnancy that would turn into the child who would become the man who would become Tim Tebow.

This line of reasoning is not a new one for anti-choice groups. The message is, “if you abort, just think, that could be the next President of the United States in there, the next scientist that cures cancer, or the next greatest football player alive!” In Tebow, the gifted athlete and vocal Christian, anti-choice groups found their perfect hero to prop up; if his mother had done what abortion groups say is acceptable – had an abortion to save her own life- Tebow would not be alive. Never mind the fact that Tebow’s mother made the decision despite the risk to her health for herself – something denied to women seeking or supporting abortion- it is clear to everyone (or should be , anyway) with a brain that 99.9% of the fetuses gestating right now are not , in fact, going to become gifted athletes like Tim Tebow.

Tying this together with Tebow’s recent great play: he’s been ballin’ out of his backside for weeks on end. Even I, the anti-Tebow, anti-Bronco fan, basketball-loving woman that I am, have been rooting for him. Yeah, he’s that damn good. But it always feels a bit, well, wrong. How can I support a guy that’s openly anti-choice? This is the same man that used the Super Bowl to a) build his reputation and brand as the saintliest saint of an athlete that ever lived, and b) raise money for an anti-choice organization that would deny the right to abortion to millions of women that need it. Yuck.

So here is my solution, and if you’re a sports fan that also thinks women should be able to do what they want, when they want, and how they want it with their uteri, you can join in this too. For every touchdown Tebow throws next week (when the Broncos play against another famous QB, Tom Brady) , donate $5 or $10 to your local pro-choice organization. If the Broncos make the playoffs (I haven’t checked if that’s even a possibility at this point), I plan to continue the pledge.

I figure this is indeed the best way to enjoy football, support Tim Tebow (more touchdowns, mannn!!!), and give , give, give to pro-choice organizations earning little to no glory, yet desperately in need of funds.