Jim Harbaugh, head football coach at the University of Michigan, professed an anti-abortion view at this week’s funding event and became one of the first prominent athletes to oppose abortion since the Roe v. Wade case was overturned. I did.
“I believe I have the courage to give birth to a fetus,” Harbaugh said at the event, according to Detroit Catholic, a news agency in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit. “I love life. I believe in lovingly respecting and respecting life and death. My faith and science drive these beliefs in me.”
According to the organization’s website, Harbaugh and his wife Sarah were speaking at the Plymouth Right to Life event in Plymouth, Mississippi on Sunday. The Archdiocese priest gave a keynote speech entitled “We were Inspired” before Harbaugh gave what the group called “Pro Life Testimony.”
Harbaugh, a Catholic who quoted a passage from the Bible in his remarks, said he trusts the American people to develop the right policies and laws regarding abortion.
“Yes, there is a conflict between the legitimate rights of the mother and the rights of the fetus,” he said. “One solution may involve incredible difficulties for mothers, families and societies. The other leads to fetal death.”
Read more about the end of the Roe v. Wade case
Several prominent athletes, including soccer star Megan Rapinoe, have criticized the ruling after the Supreme Court terminated its constitutional rights to abortion last month. Until this week’s Harbaugh speech, few sports personalities spoke publicly against abortion.
Harbaugh’s opinion goes against what Mary Sue Coleman, the interim president of the University of Michigan, said after the Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade case. On the day of her judgment, she said, “I strongly support access to abortion services and will do my utmost as president to ensure that we continue to provide this very important care.” ..
Abortion is currently legal in Michigan, but it is being contested in court and judges have blocked the enforcement of the 1931 law, which prohibits most abortions from taking effect. Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer has filed a proceeding to suspend the ban.
Harbaugh refused an interview with a spokesman for the University of Michigan football team. University spokesman Rick Fitzgerald said: He shared his beliefs and did not speak on behalf of the university. “
As the news of Harbaugh’s remarks spread, journalists and Michigan graduates discussed them online and sometimes enthusiastically.
Jemele Hill, a Detroit-born The Atlantic writer who worked at ESPN, criticized Harbaugh’s view. “This may be a difficult concept for Jim Harbaugh” or “Any anti-selective person can understand.” She wrote on twitter“But if you don’t want an abortion, don’t do it. It’s not that difficult.”
Clay Travis, the founder of the sports and culture website Outkick, said journalists were inconsistently complaining after Harbaugh gave his view.
“The same sports media that always insists,” Hey, we want everyone to share their political beliefs-speak as much as you want, “Jim Harbaugh said of abortion. I have an opinion different from that of, so I will definitely be torn into pieces, “Travis Said in a video posted on Twitter..
Harbaugh has been coaching at the University of Michigan for seven seasons after looking back at Stanford’s football program and leading the San Francisco 49ers to the Super Bowl. He was an NFL quarterback for 14 years before moving to the coaching ranks and wasn’t shy to express his opinion.
After George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer, Harbaugh marched at a rally against police atrocities in Ann Arbor, Michigan. To protest what Capernick called “a country that oppresses blacks and people of color.” Harbaugh said then He supported Capernick’s motives, but made exceptions to his way of acting.
According to Detroit Catholic, Rev. John Ricardo, priest of the anti-abortion event in Plymouth, he supports the right to abortion in the audience, but hopes that some will attend because of Harbo’s presence. Said that there is.
A priest who graduated from Michigan said, “I want you to know that you are welcome here.” “We are very happy that you have come and just want to ask God to help us see reality.”