Couple Holds Web Vote: Get Abortion or Have Baby?

Pro-life stunt, or people unfit to be parents?
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 18, 2010 2:37 AM CST
Updated Nov 18, 2010 6:15 AM CST

Minnesota couple Pete and Alisha Arnold say they're letting the Internet decide whether or not they get an abortion. The couple—who have been posting ultrasound pictures at birthornot.com—say the move is an exercise in democracy. They plan to keep the poll open for as long as Alisha, now 17 weeks pregnant, can legally get an abortion, and claim the results will be the deciding factor in whether they keep the fetus or not. "Give Birth" has 46% of the vote at the moment, with "Have an Abortion" at 54%.

There seem to be three possibilities here, Alicia Chen notes at Gawker. This could be an "idiotic prank" by a couple intent on becoming famous. It could be a pro-life stunt and the site is "a confused parable to illustrate the peril of putting an unborn baby's life in the hands of voters." Or, thirdly, the couple are really planning to have an abortion based on the results of an Internet poll. All three options plainly "suggest these people should never, ever raise a kid," Chen writes. Click here for another reaction.
(More abortion debate stories.)

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