In America, football's Super Bowl commercials have become nearly as anticipated as the game itself.

Businesses see the Super Bowl as the prime advertising time of the year. A 30-second spot costs between $2.5 and $2.8 million. This Super Bowl became the most-watched TV program ever with an average of more than 106 million people watching the game, so advertisers trot out their most creative, attention-getting ads hoping to influence viewers.

Un-aborted ad

One advertisement generated buzz even before it aired.  Focus on the Family aired a pro-family commercial starring former Heisman Trophy winner (more American football talk) and Florida Gator star Tim Tebow. The ad explains how his mother was pressured to abort her baby—she refused and Tim Tebow was born.

Abortion rights groups tried to talk CBS into aborting the ad, arguing that the network should not air such an ad during the Super Bowl. Surprisingly, despite the controversy, CBS showed the commercial.

Generational shift

Abortion has been a hot topic since the U.S. Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade in 1973 found abortion in America to be a constitutional right. Public opinion has swung like a pendulum on the topic.

A recent Knights of Columbus-Marist survey discovered an interesting demographic dynamic. The baby boomer generation is the most accepting of abortion. Not surprising, since their generation was most immediately impacted by legalized abortion.

What I did find surprising was the intense opposition to abortion from Generation X and the Millennial Generation (also known as Gen Y). According to this survey, 58 percent of Millennials (born after 1980) and 60 percent of Generation X view abortion as immoral.

Thirty-seven years after abortion was legalized the two generations born during that time don't seem to see abortion as a "right" but rather an immoral act. Interesting and encouraging—this is a case where the younger have something to teach the older. They have seen the results and don't like what they see.

Technology supports life

Technology certainly has had an impact on this debate. Advances show ever earlier in pregnancy that a fetus is not just a blob of tissue but a living, thinking being in the womb who can feel emotion and pain. We now know that a fetus responds to stimuli such as a parent's voice or music. Technology has made the proposition that life does not begin at conception harder and harder to defend.

And technology only confirms what the Bible has said for thousands of years.

The book of Luke describes a meeting between Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, and her cousin Elizabeth. Elizabeth was pregnant. Luke records she was greeted by Mary and that "the babe leaped in her womb...for joy" (Luke 1:41-44). Luke was a physician. He didn't write those words carelessly. Luke knew what he was writing.

Gateway to potential

Pro-life groups point out that every fetus is a life—with potential, not only to be a football star but perhaps a great inventor, doctor or leader.

It's tragic to think that the next Thomas Edison, Dr. Michael DeBakey or Abraham Lincoln may have been aborted. Or, using the biblical example, what if Elizabeth's unborn child had been killed? He became known as John the Baptist, the great prophet and teacher who prepared the way for our Savior Jesus Christ.

All humans—including you and me—have an incredible potential that goes far beyond our physical lives. The Bible tells us what that potential is. It's explained in a free booklet, What Is Your Destiny?

Congratulations to those Millennials and Generation Xers who have moral clarity about abortion! VT