During the Super Bowl on February 7, a controversial advertisement starring Tim Tebow, former quarterback for the Florida Gators, and his mother aired. Tebow had wanted to speak out about his story of how his mother had foregone her doctor’s opinion of having an abortion because the baby had very little chance to survive. She said no to the abortion, Tim was born, and he grew up to become one of the best college football players ever. The Tebow family decided to film a commercial telling their story for millions of people to hear. Critics started to protest because they did not want a pro-life commercial opposing their views to air on television. However, CBS did air the commercial, and it only talked about how tough the Tebow family is and how Tim was a miracle baby.
I agree with the same viewpoint as Tim Tebow, and that’s why I was glad to see CBS air the commercial. Someone needs to stand up for the unborn babies who never get a chance at life in the world. Life begins at conception. When the cells of the mother and the cells of the father join together, they form another human being. Just twenty-two days after conception, the baby’s heart starts beating. And yet people still want to end those infants’ lives.
Every year, over one million abortions happen in the United States. That’s over a million children who could have had the chance to grow up and live life. Of those million abortions, a small percentage is from rape or concern for the mother’s health. So that leaves every other woman with the chance to make many choices before conception. However, making choices ends after conception.
One of the main reasons women have abortions is that they feel that a baby would be a burden to them and inconvenience their life. That is a selfish attitude. Having a baby is supposed to be a happy occasion, not a burden. Because women or teenage girls were the ones who decided to have sex, they should be the ones to live with the consequences. Actions do have consequences, and in this case, life-changing consequences. However, babies’ lives should not be ended for women’s mistakes.
Many women also have abortions because they find out that the baby may have a birth defect or a life-altering handicap. Even though that baby may have some hardships ahead of him or be a little bit slower than other people, he still deserves the opportunity to live. If those babies were meant to come into this world, should they really be aborted just because they have a handicap?
Forty-three percent, almost half, of American women will have an abortion in their lifetime. Eighty-seven percent of those women are unmarried or separated from the father of the child. More than two-thirds of those women also plan to have a child in the future.
Most of these women feel guilt and shame later in life after having an abortion. And why shouldn’t they? I have no doubt that they do once they make a choice to murder an innocent child for their own personal gain.