Tebow Ad Outrage Exposes Some Feminists' Lunacy And Hypocracy

By Alicia Colon

Last week, viewers finally got to see the Heisman Trophy winner and his mother - Tim and Pam Tebow - in the Super Bowl ad that caused apoplexy to many abortion-rights advocates. They whined their opposition to what they claim was a pro-life ad and said that political statements have no place at an athletic event. Considering the fact that they had never seen the ad, one could say that their pro-choice agenda superseded their commonsense, and when viewers actually saw the ad, many simply found it to be a sweet and charming love story between mother and son.

The well-known women's rights attorney, Gloria Allred, was the first to put her foot in her mouth by mounting a pre-Super Bowl campaign on television and Internet magazines. She assumed that the ad would have Pam Tebow telling how doctors advised her to have an abortion during her pregnancy while she was in the Philippines. Ms. Allred claimed that she doubted Pam Tebow's claims because, since 1930, abortion has been illegal in the Philippines, which is a Catholic country. She said, "The anti-abortion laws are so strict in the Philippines, that exceptions are not allowed for rape or incest, or even the health of the mother. There is no law in the Philippines that expressly authorizes abortions in order to save the woman's life."

Ms. Allred appeared on the Fox News show "Megyn Kelly Live" without having seen the 30-second ad and continued to spout pure assumptions about what doctors in the Philippines do when presented with a medical situation like Mrs. Tebow's.

Ms. Allred also sent a letter to the president and CEO of the CBS Corporation, Les Moonves, in which she threatened to sue the network for misleading advertising if the spot did not include the information that abortions are illegal in the Philippines. "This is not just another ad. Women's lives are at stake. No woman should have to live in a country where abortion is illegal as it once was in the U.S. And was and is in the Philippines," wrote Ms. Allred. "No sugar coated religiously inspired ad which fails to give all of the relevant facts should be permitted to air on CBS or anywhere else," she added.

Well, this is the complete transcript of the Tebow ad:

Pam Tebow: "I call him my miracle baby. He almost didn't make it into this world. I can remember so many times when I almost lost him. It was so hard. Well, he's all grown up now, and I still worry about his health. You know, with all our family's been through, we have to be tough - Timmy! I'm trying to tell our story here."

Tim Tebow: "Sorry about that, Mom. Do you still worry about me, Mom?"

Pam Tebow: "Well, yeah, you're not nearly as tough as I am."

The word "abortion" did not appear in the ad so the loony left had to find something else about it to protest. After Pam Tebow said, "Timmy," it appeared as if he'd tried to tackle his mother. Then the lunacy began.

NOW president Terry O'Neill said the ad glorified violence against women. "I am blown away at the celebration of the violence against women in it," she said. "That's what comes across to me even more strongly than the anti-abortion message. I myself am a survivor of domestic violence, and I don't find it charming. I think CBS should be ashamed of itself."

Ms. O'Neill apparently hadn't watched the Super Bowl ad for Snickers that had an octogenarian actress, Betty White, being tackled and thrown in the mud. Her tackler landed on top of her, which was not at all like the Tebow ad, which had the mother simply disappear off screen after her son fake-tackled her. She remained upright and even looked downward as if her son had landed on the ground instead of her.

Conclusion? Pro-choice advocates are only concerned with a woman's right to choose if she chooses an abortion. Those who choose life like Sarah Palin and Pam Tebow are summarily dismissed.

Mind you, I added the word "some" to the headline of this column because until February 2006, I really hadn't met many feminist spokespersons I could relate to. Then I was assigned to interview Phyllis Chesler who'd written a fantastic book, "The Death of Feminism."

Ms. Chesler is an emerita professor of psychology and women's studies, a psychotherapist who's lectured and organized various human rights campaigns here and abroad. Although women's groups have long heralded her as a founding feminist for her classic book, "Women and Madness," the bloom came off the rose when she admitted she voted for President George W. Bush. Yes, Ms. Chesler had done the unimaginable. Her book calls for a new feminism, one that requires independent - not group - thought, and a single standard of human rights for men and women everywhere on earth. What a concept!

In her book, Ms. Chesler exposes the realities of Islamic gender apartheid and tells what happens to real women in the Islamic world who struggle for freedom every day. These women are ignored by the old school of politically correct, leftist feminists. Ms. Chesler herself was, years ago, a young bride who escaped captivity in Kabul, Afghanistan - a harrowing experience she describes in her book. She told me, "What good is it if we achieve all our social goals only to have been bombed back to the Sixth Century?"

What we both found amazing were reports at the time that French women increasingly are converting to Islam. Pure madness, we both thought, but the subsequent election of President Sarkozy has injected sanity back into his country.

Ms. Chesler wrote in her blog "Chesler Chronicles" on Pajamasmedia.com: "Today, the French government has announced that immigrants (all and any immigrants) who wish to settle in France must make a commitment to 'integrate.'

This means that new citizens must agree to give up polygamy, forced marriage, the Veil, and female genital mutilation; such practices are forbidden."

Well, good for Monsieur Sarkozy and La Belle France. How long will it be before Terry O'Neill and NOW condemn the honor killings, stonings, genital mutilations, and the women sold in slavery around the world?

Considering their loony outrage at the Tebow ad, not anytime soon.

Alicia Colon lives in New York City and can be reached at aliciav.colon@gmail.com and at www.aliciacolon.com