A 30-second TV commercial scheduled for the Super Bowl will argue against abortion. The commercial uses one familys story to dictate morality to the American public, and encourages young women to disregard medical advice, putting their lives at risk. Because of that, the commercial should be pulled by CBS, say the National Organization for Women, NARAL Pro-Choice America and the Womans Media Center (author of the dictate morality quote above).
They might as well urge the Congress to repeal the First Amendment to the Constitution. The 30-second spot points out that Pam Tebow, the mother of the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow, was urged to abort her child by doctors, and ignored the recommendation. That, according to NARAL and its allies, is not allowed to be said.
And that stance confirms every worst stereotype about pro-choice advocates specifically and some on the political left generally, namely, that it is wrong to have a different opinion.
As faithful readers of this page know, the Jewish position on abortion is neither pro-choice nor pro-life, but rather nuanced, and we shall not review it here. The point today is the attempt by one side to deny the right of free speech to the other side. Apparently, we need to remind NARAL and certain like-minded organizations that it is legal to argue against all abortions, legal to raise money to make the point, and legal to use the Super Bowl for its venue.
Kudos to The New York Times for making the point with appropriate sarcasm and concision. Said a recent Times editorial:
The would-be censors are on the wrong track. Instead of trying to silence an opponent, advocates for allowing women to make their own decisions about whether to have a child should be using the Super Bowl spotlight to convey what their movement is all about: protecting the right of women like Pam Tebow to make their private reproductive choices. If one is a pro-choice advocate, shouldnt the choice to have a child be sacred to that advocate? Apparently not, if the advocate is NOW, NARAL or Womens Media Center. Are they pro-choice, or anti-choice?
Blessedly, the First Amendment is alive and well. CBS rejected the censorship request a no-brainer.
