For former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow, activism against abortion hits particularly close to home.
During a speech at the March for Life on Friday, Tebow shared the deeply personal account of his mother’s decision to refuse to abort him, despite the significant health risks associated with the pregnancy. After struggling to conceive, Tebow said his mother was told her son was a “tumor” that needed to be removed.
“All the doctors said, ‘You need to have an abortion. You need to get rid of him. You need to get rid of him,'” Tebow said. “But she decided that she was gonna trust God [and keep the baby], even when the doctors said it could, it might cost her her life.”
Tebow described having survived despite difficult circumstances. His mother’s placenta was not attached at the time of his birth, limiting the nourishment Tebow could receive from his mother. The doctor who delivered him described Tebow’s survival as “the greatest miracle [he had] ever seen,” Tebow said.
“I’m so grateful my mom gave me a chance at life,” Tebow concluded.
An NFL quarterback-turned-minor-league-baseball player for the New York Mets, Tebow has been a longtime supporter of the anti-abortion cause. The professional athlete has been outspoken in support of his Christian faith, saying that his anti-abortion credentials hold more significance to him than his athletic achievements.
“[Saving babies] really does mean a lot more than winning the Super Bowl,” he said to a crowd at a football-themed banquet hosted by Kansans for Life in Feb. 2020. “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?”
