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The American Family Association (AFA) is urging its
supporters to send letters to CBS Chairman Les Moonves to urge him not to bow
to pressure to pull a pro-life Super Bowl ad featuring college football star Tim
Tebow and his mother.
The ad, which has not been seen, is expected to tell the story of Pam Tebow's pregnancy in 1987. After getting sick during a mission trip to the Philippines, she was advised to abort her fifth child because doctors feared the medication she was given had caused irreversible damage. She ignored the recommendation and gave birth to Tim, who went on to win the Heisman Trophy in 2007.
The ad was paid for by Focus on the Family at an estimated cost of $2.5 million and has a theme of "Celebrate Family, Celebrate Life."
"CBS has come under withering fire from the left for its decision to air this ad," AFA wrote in an e-mail to supporters Wednesday.
"The hypocrisy here is thick," it continued. "Abortion proponents claim to be all about choice, but they are outraged over an ad that features a woman exercising her right to choose life for her baby son."
On Monday, a national coalition of women's groups including the National Organization for Woman (NOW), the Feminist Majority and the Women's Media Center called on CBS to pull the pro-life ad, saying it would be divisive.
"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," said Jehmu Greene, president of the New York-based Women's Media Center, according to the Associated Press (AP).
CBS said Tuesday that it had approved the script and that the 30-second spot will run during the Super Bowl. But the network said it would also consider other "responsibly produced" advocacy ads in its Feb. 7 broadcast, the AP reported.
All the national TV networks have policies governing the broadcast of certain types of controversial advocacy ads. Last year, when NBC broadcast the Super Bowl the network declined to air an ad sponsored by the Catholic watchdog group Fidelis that hailed the success of President Obama and featured the message "Life: Imagine the Potential."
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