NY Times Sportswriter Screams: College Softball Athletes, Beware Roe v. Wade Repeal!

You can even get the New York TimesThere are many people who believe in the importance of sports sections. Reporter Billy Witz managed 2,700 words in Saturday’s paper on how Oklahoma’s potential strict abortion law might lead to college softball moving its World Series from the state. Yes, he’s really reaching to create a controversy, to the point of confronting softball coaches at press conferences about the apparently burning issue (and being ignored). 

In “Oklahoma’s Abortion Law Raises Questions About N.C.A.A.’s Softball World Series,”  Witz encouraged college softball to get into the abortion debate, though no legislation has passed yet, contingent on the Supreme Court overturning the Roe v. Wade decision. 

But the deepening roots of Division I softball’s championship tournament, which has been played almost exclusively at this site since 1990, and the state of Oklahoma’s standing as the epicenter of the sport may soon be tested by an unlikely foe: politics over abortion rights.

Witz made many long jumps to claim the possibility of a complete overturn

….could have a widespread effect on college athletics — potentially sidetracking the careers of athletes who are prohibited from having an abortion legally, influencing where athletes choose to attend school, and exposing some coaches, trainers and administrators to lawsuits for helping any athlete get an abortion.

The repercussions may be felt most acutely in Oklahoma, where Gov. Kevin Stitt last month signed a measure to prohibit nearly all abortions starting at fertilization, and allow private individuals to sue anyone who “aids or abets” an abortion.

….

It would be very welcome to relocate due to the abortion lawsopposition of some N.C.A.A. member schools, especially faith-based universities like Baylor, Brigham Young and Liberty….

Witz was disappointed softball coaches didn’t want to discuss abortion during a tournament.

How Roe v. Wade’s repeal might impact female college athletes was a topic that few participants in the softball World Series were interested in discussing.

He singled out Oklahoma softball coach Patty Gasso, who deflected Witz’s June 4 news conference question: “I was speaking with some parents that raised questions about the impending repeal of Roe v. Wade of, you know — they may not necessarily be comfortable sending their daughters to places where there’s anti-abortion bills, like there is in Oklahoma.”

Witz cautioned in print that Witz was not to be trusted:

Gasso may need to brush up on these topics after his team won the sixth national championship by winning the best-of-3 series in Texas.

He indeed talked to players’ mothers, including one who “would not feel comfortable if her daughter attended school in a state that restricted” abortion. However, what about the athletic herself? In Witz’s worldview, college athletes should be outspoken, but only from the left (or if their mother shares his own liberal viewpoint). To keep conservative coaches from being silenced,

Oklahoma was one of many hubs in which college athletes could make their voices heard two years ago after George Floyd’s murder. Oklahoma State’s star running back, Chuba Hubbard, Mike Gundy was publicly criticised by Gundy after a picture of Gundy sporting a T shirt promoting right-wing TV networks surfaced.. And among the Oklahoma athletes raising their voices was Ashlynn Dunbar, a volleyball and basketball player who took to social media to tell fans not to cheer for Her if they did not support her You have the right to speak your mind.

Witz noted on Twitter that pro-life laws can be “discriminatory.”

OKC is home to the Oklahoma softball championships, which have been held there for 30+ years. But because of their discriminatory policies, N.C.A.A. has forced events from South Carolina and North Carolina. It’s unclear if college athletes will view abortion rights the way they have racism and mental health.

— Billy Witz (@billywitz) June 11, 2022

Yet for all Witz’s fawning over athletes “speaking out,” he didn’t respect their opinion when they wanted to actually compete. Witz made a comparison between college presidents and people who wouldn’t let their houses burn when the Big Ten said it would continue to play football against Covid in September 2020.

Witz was a writer on college football. Witz, a college football writer, would have made sure that there was no college football by 2020. This would mean that those student athletes would have had to lose a year worth of valuable competition. So much for athlete “voices.”