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WITH THE Supreme Court’s decision to reverse the Roe V. Wade ruling, abortion became one of the most sensitive and controversial social issues in the United States over the past month, with great polarization surrounding the issue. This did not intimidate historic coach and former quarterback Jim Harbaugh, currently the head coach of the Michigan Wolverines, who once again took a clear pro-life stance during an interview on ESPN with sportswriter Gene Wojciechowski.
Harbaugh assured Wojciechowski that, if necessary, he and his wife would raise a baby that comes from unwanted pregnancy and plans to be aborted to give that human being a chance to live.
“Let’s discuss it,” Harbaugh told Wojciechowski as part of a wide-ranging interview in Muskegon, Michigan: “I’ve told [them] the same thing I tell my kids, boys, the girls, same thing I tell our players, our staff members. I encourage them, if they have a pregnancy that wasn’t planned, to go through with it. Let that unborn child be born, and if at that time, you don’t feel like you can care for it, you don’t have the means or the wherewithal then Sarah and I will take care of that baby.”
In another section of the conversation, the coach sent a message to his entire women’s team: “Any player on our team, any member of our women’s staff or anyone in our family or our extended family…who doesn’t feel like after they have a baby they can take care of it, we have a big house. We will raise that baby.”
An image of Jim Harbaugh in 2013, when he was coach of the San Francisco 49ers, with player Delanie Walker (EFE)
The comments come after Harbaugh, and his wife Sarah participated in the Right to Life event in Plymouth, a pro-life fundraiser in Michigan.
“I believe in having the courage to let the unborn be born,” Harbaugh said at the event last week, according to remarks reported by Detroit Catholic. “I love life. I believe in having loving care and respect for life and death. My faith and my science are what drive these beliefs in me.”
The coach, who has an extremely extensive NFL career as a coach and former player, is known to be a practicing Catholic who even took his team, the Wolverines, to see the Vatican on a tour of Italy in 2017.
Harbaugh receives criticism and recognition for his support of the pro-life movement.
During his conversation with Wojciechowski, Harbaugh explained that he is not trying to impose his position on abortion. On the contrary, he believes that a broad debate must be held to resolve this delicate issue that polarizes not only American society but the entire planet.
“Faith, family, football… those are my priorities. I just think…the abortion issue is one that’s so big that it needs to be talked about. It needs a serious conversation. What do you think? What do I think? What do others think?” the coach pointed out. “It’s a life-or-death type of issue. And I believe in, and I respect people’s views. But let’s hear them. Let’s discuss them because there’s passion on both sides of this issue. So when you combine that with respect, that’s when the best results come. … [I’m] just contributing to that conversation and that communication, which I think is really important, in my opinion.”
His sensible words, howeverr, did not stop the coach from receiving hundreds of criticisms from abortion supporters after his interview was published on ESPN’s Twitter account.
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh told @GenoEspn that he and his wife Sarah will "raise that baby" should someone in his family or program be involved with an unplanned pregnancy and doesn’t feel like they can take care of the child.
https://t.co/tVVBODokTq— ESPN (@espn) July 26, 2022
Nevertheless, not all criticism is criticism, as Harbaugh also received support and recognition on social networks for taking a clear stance on a controversial issue as a public figure exposed to criticism.
“For those unfamiliar with the term, this is what is known as a good person. A person who would sacrifice selflessly to help others, a person who would rather prefer life than death a person who would do mor.e rather than less. Our society needs more people like this,” wrote one user on Twitter, showing his support for the Wolverines coach.
Emmanuel Alejandro Rondón is a journalist at El American specializing in the areas of American politics and media analysis // Emmanuel Alejandro Rondón es periodista de El American especializado en las áreas de política americana y análisis de medios de comunicación.
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