At a recent Pro-Life event, athlete and celebrity Tim Tebow spoke about the importance of Pro-Life work. Tebow, best known for winning the 2007 Heisman Trophy and his NFL career, is now a professional baseball player. Throughout his career, Tebow has been outspoken about his Christian faith and he has been a tireless advocate for the preborn, calling attention to the injustice of abortion.
Speaking in Kansans City last month to a crowd including Lamar Hunt, Jr., one of the owners of the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, Tebow said that athletic accomplishments pale in comparison to Pro-Life work. National Right to Life reports that Tebow said, “It really does mean a lot more than winning the Super Bowl.” Addressing Lamar, he asked, “One day, when you look back and people are talking about you and they say, ‘Oh my gosh what are you going to be known for? Are you going to say Super Bowl, or we saved a lot of babies?'”
Tebow stressed the urgency of working to end abortion. He told the audience, “It’s a rescue mission. You know why we call it a rescue mission? Because when we say that, it puts a timeline on it.” He continued, “When’s the last time you heard a rescue mission taking place in a month or a few years. No, a rescue mission means now. It gives you a sense of urgency. It says we have to go not because it’s our time, but because it’s their time. … I have to live a sense of urgency because while I might have time, they don’t.”
For Tebow, his Pro-Life work is also personal. As he and his mother shared throughout his career, she was told that her preborn son was a threat her life. Tebow said, “You see, my mom 32 years ago had doctors tell her she needed to abort me because if she didn’t, it was going to cost her life. And they didn’t even believe that I was a baby. They thought I was a tumor.” Tebow’s parents, who were missionaries in the Philippines at the time, knew that their child was a living human being, and they chose not to end his life. Putting the situation in God’s hands, Tebow’s mother carried her son to term and he was born healthy.
To his family, his birth and health are a miracle. Tebow explained, “To make a long story short, when I was born, they found out the placenta wasn’t actually attached. So, the doctor looked at my mom after 37 years of being a doctor and said, ‘This is the biggest miracle I’ve ever seen because I’m not sure how he’s alive.’ … I’m so grateful that my mom trusted God with my life and her life.”
Tebow’s Pro-Life witness on the national and international stage stands in stark contrast to mainstream celebrity culture, which is vehemently anti-Life. There is no doubt that Tebow knows the adversity of voicing Pro-Life values in a world that does not want to accept them. From this perspective, Tebow offered encouragement to his audience, telling them, “What you’re doing here matters. You’re fighting for life. You’re fighting for people that can’t fight for themselves.”
He also challenged them, saying, “And my question to you is: Are you willing to stand up in the face of persecution, in the face of adversity, in the face of criticism, when other people are going to say it’s not worth it, when other people won’t stand beside you? Maybe not everybody is going to be with you. Will you stand up for what’s right?” Tebow’s mother, Pam Tebow, will be speaking at the upcoming 6th Annual Permian Basin Celebration of Life on May 12. From the time of her son’s winning the Heisman Trophy, Pam Tebow has publicly shared her story of choosing Life for her son in the face of great adversity. A tireless advocate for Life, Pam Tebow will inspire and encourage Pro-Life advocates in Midland in May. Will you stand for Life and join us?