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Just days before the Super Bowl, Planned Parenthood finally responded to the highly-talked-about pro-life Super Bowl ad featuring Tim Tebow by releasing its own sports-based video.
After staying mum for weeks, Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the country, posted a video on YouTube featuring former NFL player Sean James and Olympic gold medalist Al Joyner, who directly respond to the Focus on the Family-produced pro-life ad.
"There's a lot of talk leading up to the Super Bowl about an ad focused on sports and family," James says in the video.
The yet-to-be-aired 30-second FOTF ad to which he refers is expected to feature college football star Tim Tebow and his mother, Pam, who will share a personal story centered on the theme of "Celebrate Family, Celebrate Life."
Though the exact content of the ad has not been revealed, many speculate the ad will recount Pam Tebow's refusal to have an abortion while she was pregnant with Tim despite having suffered from a life-threatening infection at the time.
News of the ad spread quickly across the internet and prompted a number of pro-choice groups to rally their supporters to call upon CBS to pull the ad.
Planned Parenthood, however, decided to take a different route.
In their video, Planned Parenthood contends that the real message of the Tebow ad is that society should respect and trust women to make their own decision on whether to keep or abort their child, though the word abortion is never used.
During his part, James says he respects and honors the "difficult medical decision she (Pam Tebow) made for her family."
"My mom showed me that women are strong and wise," says the former NFL player, who was a rookie free agent with the Minnesota Vikings during the 1991-1992 season. "She taught me that only women can make the best decisions about their health and their future."
Joyner adds, "We celebrate families by supporting our mothers; by supporting our daughters; by trusting women."
In another video, Planned Parenthood Federation of America President Cecile Richards reiterated the former athletes' sentiments, saying that "Pam Tebow weighed medical and moral considerations and decided what was right for her and her family."
"And she did so in private and without government interference," she added.
After Planned Parenthood's videos went up, Douglas R. Scott, Jr., president of Life Decisions International, a Planned Parenthood watchdog group, called PPFA's new tactic "brilliant."
"The James/Joyner video is slick," said Scott. "Like Tim Tebow, the men are articulate and come across as sincere, caring individuals."
But Scott points out that James, Joyner and Richards in the videos do not talk directly about abortion.
"Every word that leaves their mouths presents a 'let's all get along and let everyone do whatever they want to do' and 'let's celebrate and praise the decisions of those who choose to kill their children just as we might celebrate and praise those who choose to bring a new life into the world,'" Scott said.
The pro-life activist said the question is not about trusting women, but the matter is of life and death.
"The bottom line is that if Pam Tebow had followed the advice of her doctors and those who support 'reproductive choice,' Tim would have been killed," Scott said. "'Choices' are not equal. Choosing death for another should never be 'celebrated,' 'praised,' or 'respected.'"
This year's Super Bowl is scheduled to kick off at 6:28 p.m. ET. Sunday's matchup pits the American Football Conference's Indianpolis Colts and the National Football Conference's New Orleans Saints.
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