In some of the biggest sports news of the year, former Denver Broncos starting quarterback Tim Tebow has been traded to the New York Jets. If you’re plugged in to any media or news whatsoever, you’ve surely already heard about this multiple times. Undeniably, Tim Tebow is big news wherever he goes.
Why should this matter to pro-lifers? Well, Tim Tebow is nothing but good news for the pro-life movement. Not only is the 24-year-old known as an outspoken Christian with a squeaky-clean reputation; he’s also known as a kid with an amazing pro-life message that’s worth repeating. In a recent article, World Magazine related the Tebows’ story in brief:
Doctors thought Timothy Richard Tebow, the youngest of five homeshooled children, would be stillborn. While doing missions work in the Philippines, his pregnant mother contracted a bacterial infection. The medication she took caused placental disruption. Doctors recommended abortion, but his mother refused. In his memoir, Through My Eyes, Tebow said his mother’s pregnancy caused her “a great deal of pain and bleeding.” The whole family prayed for him.
The attending physician called the baby a miracle: “I can’t explain how it happened, but despite all odds, he beat them. Only a small part of the placenta was attached, but it was just enough to keep your baby nourished all these months.”
Tim Tebow
While Tebow’s mom, Pam, is the one more likely to talk about the family’s pro-life story (she travels the country speaking at pro-life events), Tebow doesn’t shy away from it either. He’s included it in his memoir, Through My Eyes, and he took part in a Focus on the Family commercial during the 2010 Super Bowl that helped to spread the message of the movement.
The name “Tim Tebow” is quickly becoming almost synonymous with prayer and the good, positive side of the pro-life message. As demonstrated by World’s recent article, this young athlete can’t escape his beginnings. Nor does he want to. Even NYDailyNews.com included Tebow’s pro-life message in an article that came out yesterday:
Two years ago, Tebow starred in a pro-life commercial with his mother, Pam, for Focus on the Family. Gary Schneeberger, the VP of communications for the group, says that there were protests against the commercial across the country before it even aired, but that it became “the most talked-about Super Bowl commercial in a generation.
“People expected it to be a very hard, strident, anti-abortion message,” said Schneeberger. “It was really nothing of the sort. It was a simple commercial about a mother and son who love each other, and a son who was grateful that his mom stood by her pro-life convictions and gave birth to him.”
It’s just this kind of positive message — which seems to run in front of, alongside, and behind Tim Tebow — that New York needs. As Thomas Peters has recently reported, the abortion statistics of New York City are horrifying, depressing, and well above the national numbers. If you want to see New York City’s shocking abortion statistics for yourself, visit the Chiaroscuro Foundation’s interactive map:
The Chiaroscuro Foundation, which has been working to raise awareness of New York City’s shocking abortion rate (nearly double the national average), just released a new interactive map where you can see by zip code the ratio of abortions to live births from 2000-2009 in the five boroughs of New York.
While many Denver Broncos fans are undoubtedly sad to see Tebow go, Colorado pro-lifers (and those around the nation) should be happy to see this persuasive ambassador go to New York. Tebow may prove to be just what New York needs…
