Saturday 30 January 2010

Sarah Palin and Pam Tebow: between "choice" and a hard place

RadarOnline exclusive:

Famed womens' rights campaigner and powerhouse attorney Gloria Allred has joined the ever growing hoard of people angered at the CBS network's decision to allow an pro life ad to air during the upcoming Super Bowl on February 7th.

In the controversial ad, Pam reportedly shares the story of her difficult 1987 pregnancy which occurred when she was working as a missionary in the Philippines. In her harrowing tale she says she fell ill with amoebic dysentery while pregnant and was treated with robust antibiotics, which she says doctors told her had caused fetal damage, prompting them to urge her to terminate her pregnancy, but she refused their advice that she have an abortion for her own safety. Going on to give birth to Tebow, the now-famous quarterback who went on to become a Heisman Trophy winner, leading the Gators to two BCS wins.

Allred's objections stem from dishonest claims in Pam Tebow's story.

In her exclusive interview with RadarOnline.com Allred slams the ad and CBS's decision to air it, pointing out factual inconsistencies with Pam's story. One glaring one is the fact that the act of abortion is totally illegal in the majority Catholic country of the Philippines - under all circumstances including rape and incest, and even without a provision in the circumstance that the mother's life is in danger. The law has been in effect since 1930.

Allred says she believes it an impossible scenario to believe that Philippino doctors would have ever suggested abortion as a viable option for Tebow in the first place. And when you learn that physicians and midwives who perform abortions in the Philippines face six years in prison, and may have their licenses suspended or revoked, and that women who receive abortions - no matter the reason - may be punished with imprisonment for two to six years, it's easy to see why.

Allred warns, "If this ad airs and fails to disclose that abortions were illegal at the time Ms. Tebow made her "choice", then I intend to file a formal complaint of misleading advertising with those federal commissions."

Sarah Palin spoke about the controversial ad with Greta Van Susteren:



The fact remains, Pam Tebow did not make the choice to give birth to her son against medical advice. The only way she could have chosen not to have her baby would have been in an illegal backstreet abortion, risking a prison sentence in a foreign country. She had no legal choice at all. All she had was luck and her son was born healthy. Will the ad reflect that?

Will Sarah Palin continue to praise Ms Tebow's "choice" if the ad turns out to be dishonest?

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