Sarah Palin, NOW Spar Over Tim Tebow's Super Bowl Ad

The National Organization for Women is firing back at Sarah Palin, who took issue with the group's opposition to a pro-life Super Bowl ad that will feature college football player Tim Tebow, Politico reports. NOW said that Palin, who defended the Focus on the Family-sponsored ad and urged CBS not to "cave" to pressures to pull it, was "missing our point."

The 30-second spot will feature Tebow and his mother, Pam, telling the story of her decision not to end her difficult pregnancy with the future Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback in 1987. Tebow has said his mother's courage often persuades other women not to have abortions, though the word "abortion" will not be mentioned in the spot. Focus on the Family is paying upwards of $2.5 million to run the ad.

NOW lashed out at CBS for accepting the spot -- a change of policy from previous years, when networks have chosen not to air advocacy ads during the most-watched television event of the year. In a message posted to its Web site under the banner "Media Hall of Shame," NOW wrote that the Tebow ad will promote "ideology over medicine" and glamorize a woman's decision to "go against her doctor's advice to terminate an at-risk pregnancy." The group called CBS' acceptance of the ad an "outrageous move."

Palin took up the issue on her Facebook page, writing that NOW is "looking at the pro-life issue backwards. Women should be reminded that they are strong enough and smart enough to make decisions that allow for career and educational opportunities while still giving their babies a chance at life."

NOW President Terry O'Neill told Politico that Palin was missing the point, and that the ad was not about empowering women but about banning a necessary procedure. "The goal of the Focus on the Family ad is not to empower women. It's to create a climate in which Roe v. Wade can be overturned," O'Neill said. "There are always going to be women who need abortions. In this country, one in three women will have an abortion."