Roundup: Is This "People Magazine"? No, It's RHReality!

Roundup: Is This “People Magazine”? No, It’s RHReality!

Jan 25, 2010, 8:08am

It may look like a gossip mag, but today's news roundup has gone totally Hollywood!

No, don’t skip to the next article. I swear, we are still the same reproductive rights news site you’ve grown to know and love. But today, I’m a little smitten with the stars. Hollywood, gossip columns, tv and public faces, today, we’ve got them all for you in our news roundup.

The Superbowl is coming in less than two weeks. Personally, I am not going to watch it, because I am a bitter Vikings fan now in recovery (I cried a little last night. I really did.). But, rumor has it some people who didn’t have the refs steal their shot at the big game from their favorite team may be watching. They’ll be eating their gumbo and whatever it is people from Indiana eat, drinking beer, hanging out with their friends and family.

What a great time to talk about abortion!

"It’s such a flashpoint subject and I’m surprised that CBS would go there after the fuss that was caused by Janet Jackson’s nipple.
It’s not even a matter of whether you’re pro-life or pro-choice, I
think most people would find an advert dealing with abortion to be out
of place during the Super Bowl," Travis adds.

Nor is it just a
case of the ad appearing to be a bad fit with the Super Bowl’s dancing
lizards, singing frogs and magic fridges. Networks have previously made
a point of rejecting advocacy adverts for Super Bowl slots – last year NBC
rejected an anti-abortion advertisement on behalf of Catholicvote.org
which used images of President Obama alongside the caption "Life.
Imagine The Potential", in addition to one about marriage equality.

Nor were these groups alone – MoveOn.org and Peta
are among those to have seen their commercials turned down while in
2004 CBS rejected an ad on behalf of the United Church of Christ
targeting gay parishioners with the tagline: "Jesus Didn’t Turn People
Away. Neither Do We."

At the time, CBS claimed it had a policy
of refusing advertising that "touches on and/or takes a position on one
side of a current controversial issue of public importance". In
contrast its response to the proposed Focus on Family commercial has
been altogether more vague, stressing that "[CBS’s] standards and
practices continue to adhere to a policy that insures that all ads on
all sides of an issue are appropriate for air". Officially the network
has only approved the scripts and could still pull the advertisement
before 7 February, but the general belief is that it is unlikely to do
so.

Wait, you don’t WANT to spend your time watching the game being preached at about why abortion is naughty? Well, obviously, you are either an "abortion proponent," a "homosexual activist", or just plain "selfish."

Jim Daly, president and CEO of Focus on the Family, explained that the
proposed ad is all about reaching out with hope and inspiration during
a time when “families need to be inspired.” But opponents of the ad
object on two levels. First of all, there is a core of powerful and
politically manipulative groups, including abortion proponents and
homosexual activists, who have a keen interest in thwarting any
positive efforts by Focus on the Family. After all, Focus has been a
high-profile leader in campaigns to end abortion and to halt the
normalization of the homosexual lifestyle in American society.

The other group expressing opposition to the ad has no ideological axe
to grind. Their beef is based on pure selfishness. You see, this is the
Super Bowl and they have no desire during this entertainment orgy of
being reminded that there are stark realities beyond the frivolity of
professional football.

In response to the news of the Focus ad running during an event that
has become almost sacred among hardcore sports fans, CBS sports
columnist Gregg Doyel declared, “Leave my football alone.” A corny
Doritos or frankly stupid Bud Lite commercial does not count as an
intrusion into the grid-iron shrine. But somehow, a highly talented
quarterback (and potential NFL great) talking about the importance of
valuing life is nothing more than a major annoyance.

Doyel complained that, assuming the final commercial is approved by the
powers that be at CBS, “there are going to be about 100 million of us
who won’t be happy for 30 seconds of the Super Bowl.” In pure mockery,
Doyel described the “beautiful, undeniable message” that will inspire
the overwhelming majority of those who view the ad. “Still, I don’t
want to see,” he complained. “Not during the d*** Super Bowl.”

Politics and Hollywood are going hand in hand these days for the anti-choice crowd, as Tim Tebow and Bristol Palin become the face of their new public relations campaign.

As pro-life marchers gather Friday for their annual protest of the
Supreme Court ruling on Roe v. Wade, two famous college students are
renewing the image of the anti-abortion movement.

Bristol Palin, daughter of former VP candidate Sarah Palin, and
former Heisman trophy winner Tim Tebow both made headlines this week
for their pro-life activism: Palin, with a magazine cover story on
"choosing life" for her son, and Tebow with the announcement that he
will appear in a pro-life ad during the Super Bowl.

Does the pro-life movement need a facelift?

Journalist Sean Michael Winters, writing Thursday in the National Catholic Reporter, says that the pro-life movement must re-focus on changing the culture if it really wants to change lives.

"It is time to rethink pro-life strategy, and that rethinking must
include new arguments aimed at persuading our fellow citizens, a new
political and cultural approach to abortion itself," Winters writes.

As if on cue, Palin and Tebow are taking their message to the masses.

Along with her son, mother and baby brother, Bristol, 19, appeared
this week on the cover of In Touch Weekly under the headline "We’re
Glad We Chose Life."

Of course, the most important part of all of this is that everyone involved chose. Tebow’s mother chose to carry her son at risk to her own life. Bristol Palin chose to give birth to her child and raise him, knowing she had, among other things, family support to rely on. In fact, maybe all of these stories are powerful reminders of why choice is an important personal decision each woman should make on her own.

And the Palins makes an excellent role models for choice, which is inherently about giving women full control over their own bodies. Bristol has announced that she will now remain abstinent until she gets married, while Sarah admits she wishes she "had had more candid talks about having unprotected sex, about having sex before marriage."

Now, the Palins discussing the dangers of unprotected sex, and the need for birth control access. There’s a Super Bowl add I could get behind.

Mini Roundup: Nebraska is attempting an abortion ban at 20 weeks. The sponsor claims that’s when fetuses feel pain. Are we far from legislation demanding that all fetuses get pain meds and all women having abortions be forced to go in anesthetized?

January 25, 2010

Pro-life
group struggles to find place on liberal campus Yale Daily News

Domestic
Abuse May Affect Reproductive Freedom
MedPage Today

A
rise in teenage pregancy also raises concerns Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Phoenix
diocese pushes to make stronger marriage bonds Arizona Republic

Trial
of Accused Abortionist Killer Opens Without ‘A-Word’ Christian Post

Prosecutors
build case in Kan. abortion trial Washington Post

Abortion
foes ’empowered’ by Brown victory Boston Herald

January 24, 2010

Roe
v. Wade Supporter Scott Brown, Improbable Pro-Life Hero Politics Daily

Pro-Life
News: Health Care, Abortion, Terri Schiavo, Sarah’s Choice, Sarah Palin LifeNews.com

Tony
Abbott warns women against sex before marriage The Australian