# Abort or Keep? Let the intertubes decide! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 18, 2010, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abort-or-keep-let-the-intertubes-decide/561126 "2010-11-18T18:54:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abort-or-keep-let-the-intertubes-decide/561126/1 "2010-11-18T18:54:21Z")
There is this couple, you see who are pregnant (technically just the female of the pair is pregnant), but gee, y’know they simply don’t know if they are ready for childbirth, what with the careers and such. What to do? What…to…do? How about: > [@](#): > > Pete and Alisha Arnold, both 30, both tech professionals, live in the Minneapolis suburb of Apple Valley and have been married for 10 years. Since September, they’ve blogged about their expected child at [birthornot.com](http://birthornot.com), posting health updates about the mother and the fetus (which will be 17 weeks-old tomorrow), and ultrasound pictures and video. But at the top of the blog is a poll hosted by [PollDaddy.com](http://PollDaddy.com). The question: “Should We Give Birth or Have an Abortion?” “Give Birth” has 46 percent of the vote at the moment, with “Have an Abortion” at 54 percent. The poll closes on December 7th. Seriously, WTF??!! There is no option, BTW for have the baby and let some non-fucksticks raise it. But this is close to monstrous if you ask me, women struggle so hard with this decision and the decision to raise a child should not be left up to the whim of the Internet community, well known for its collective intelligence. And whether you think this is just a poll for a poll’s sake, think again. > [@](#): > > he plans to check Polldaddy’s records to make sure there hasn’t been any double-voting or other evidence of fraud and then he and Alisha will use the results to decide whether to keep the baby. [Link](http://gawker.com/5692958/vote-on-whether-this-couple-gets-an-abortion) ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abort-or-keep-let-the-intertubes-decide/561126/2 "2010-11-18T18:56:56Z")
Well that answers that question. They cut it off before it could even develop. If this is going where I think it is, though, it reminds me of the website that solicited donations, or else they were going to cook a rabbit. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abort-or-keep-let-the-intertubes-decide/561126/3 "2010-11-18T18:59:04Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Well that answers that question. They cut it off before it could even develop. > > If this is going where I think it is, though, it reminds me of the website that solicited donations, or else they were going to cook a rabbit. Hit the submit button by accident, but managed to get it edited before the time ran out. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abort-or-keep-let-the-intertubes-decide/561126/4 "2010-11-18T19:06:56Z")
Try OPetria. OPetria is used to treat cases of Premature OP-ation. If left untreated, P.O. can lead to senseless, rambling OPs that have too little information, have no links, and need to be edited immediately. 4 out of 5 moderators recommend OPetria for the treatment of PO. [sub]OPetria is not to be taken by women who are pregnant or may become pregnant, or who have ever dreamed about being pregnant or who had a mother who was pregnant before giving birth. Side effects include death, loss of sanity, open festering wounds, zombieification, and gum disease. Do not take OPetria if you are breathing, your heart is beating, or you like to live.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abort-or-keep-let-the-intertubes-decide/561126/5 "2010-11-18T19:24:28Z")
My first thought is: This is probably just a stunt. My second thought is: I don’t really care, since I’m OK with abortion for whatever reason. My third thought is: 17 weeks a bit late. I’d be a lot cooler with this “stunt” if it was \< 12 weeks. If you don’t know by then if you want to have the baby, then you probably shouldn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abort-or-keep-let-the-intertubes-decide/561126/6 "2010-11-18T19:33:20Z")
Whatever their original intentions, unless the pregnancy itself is fake, it’s gone beyond being just a stunt. If this baby _is_ born–and not given up for adoption–he will be raised by people _who would do this_, which is sad enough. But then, eventually, he will _find out_ about the game his parents played with his life. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abort-or-keep-let-the-intertubes-decide/561126/7 "2010-11-18T19:48:08Z")
Wasn’t there a similiar case that turned out to be a hoax – send us x amount of money or we’ll have an abortion? ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abort-or-keep-let-the-intertubes-decide/561126/8 "2010-11-18T20:10:04Z")
My initial response would be to vote “have an abortion” because anyone who designs this website isn’t ready for parenthood. Upon further reflection, I would vote “have the baby” because I’m cruel and I just don’t give a shit. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abort-or-keep-let-the-intertubes-decide/561126/9 "2010-11-18T20:35:46Z")
[Slate’s XX Blog](http://www.doublex.com/blog/xxfactor/pro-life-prank)has this pegged for an anti-abortion hoax. The prospective parents are basically fundie burlesques of pro-choicers. Also, if the couple were pro-choice, they wouldn’t ask other people to make this decision for them. And the website was registered before the woman knew she was pregnant, supposedly. What’s going to happen is the woman is going to see the light and decide to have her baby, regardless of what she’s told to do by the internets, and she’ll become a legend that fundies tell each other to get inspired. ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abort-or-keep-let-the-intertubes-decide/561126/10 "2010-11-18T21:05:54Z")
From the article: > [@](#): > > Alisha said that two pregnancies ended in two miscarriages in the past year and a half. Where’s the “try using birth control, you dipshits!” option? ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abort-or-keep-let-the-intertubes-decide/561126/11 "2010-11-18T21:12:37Z")
There is nothing like being able to pass the responsibility of this decision in your mind to a stranger. This says to me they want an abortion, but can’t deal with the fact it’s their decision to end a life. Stop the hypothetical, because there are plenty of people who would like to say somebody else ended the kids life. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abort-or-keep-let-the-intertubes-decide/561126/12 "2010-11-18T21:21:28Z")
If this is real then I vote they should abort and then keep the fetus in a mason jar over the mantle and for Christmas they can hang a stocking around it. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abort-or-keep-let-the-intertubes-decide/561126/13 "2010-11-18T21:22:43Z")
I once told a woman it comes down to if she really believed in the sanctity of all human life, and in that case the decision is clear. She has a teen by this time now and has been married to the father for years. It was certainly a decision she needed to decide for herself. I think if I had said get an abortion she would have. All I did was put it back in her hands and direct her to look at what I knew her beliefs were. It’s a not a decision for anyone but the mother and father to make. A stranger or friend should not make the decision in the end. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abort-or-keep-let-the-intertubes-decide/561126/14 "2010-11-18T21:32:53Z")
Some good tell-tales pointing toward hoax, I agree. However, > [@saoirse](#): > > Also, if the couple were pro-choice, they wouldn’t ask other people to make this decision for them. That doesn’t _quite_ follow. Making a decision doesn’t mean accepting no input. People use all kinds of bases to make all kinds of choices in their lives, and plenty of people ask others for their advice (including anonymous netizens, including on this board). I’d bet that most women who consider abortions include the counsel of at least one other person. Formally polling strangers on a matter of such importance is pretty far out, but it’s not _categorically_ illogical. > [@saoirse](#): > > What’s going to happen is the woman is going to see the light and decide to have her baby, regardless of what she’s told to do by the internets, and she’ll become a legend that fundies tell each other to get inspired. That may be the plan. But do you suppose the pregnancy itself is all a fake? If there _is_ a real child born to these people, then this is still a supremely twisted thing to do to the kid, even if the plan never included a real possibility of abortion. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abort-or-keep-let-the-intertubes-decide/561126/15 "2010-11-18T21:40:35Z")
I am inclined to believe it is a hoax, but why would you invent a hoax that made you look like complete shitstains? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abort-or-keep-let-the-intertubes-decide/561126/16 "2010-11-18T22:06:45Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > I am inclined to believe it is a hoax, but why would you invent a hoax that made you look like complete shitstains? If it’s a pro-life stunt, then they get to be “redeemed”. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abort-or-keep-let-the-intertubes-decide/561126/17 "2010-11-18T22:32:10Z")
Yeah, my vote is this website is just a stunt of some sort designed to make some sort of point that I’m unclear on at the moment. Anyhow, “give birth” is securely in the lead with 80%. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abort-or-keep-let-the-intertubes-decide/561126/18 "2010-11-18T23:57:08Z")
Yeah, this just smells wrong. They are going into an awful lot of loving detail about the features and capabilities of the fetus. And there’s no reason why they would have an abortion, as far as I can tell - they started the site before confirming a tried-for pregnancy. It doesn’t make any sense. Unless the site is built by pro-lifers who are attempting to depict pro-choicers with all the delicacy and skill of great authors Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, while making unwitting readers think, “How horrible, that people could be so flip about killing a baby that can hear and has eyelashes!” ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abort-or-keep-let-the-intertubes-decide/561126/19 "2010-11-19T01:02:24Z")
As pro-life propaganda goes, this effort ain’t a patch on lil’ Markie’s _Today My Mommy Killed Me._ ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abort-or-keep-let-the-intertubes-decide/561126/20 "2010-11-19T05:00:16Z")
> [@saoirse](#): > > [Slate’s XX Blog](http://www.doublex.com/blog/xxfactor/pro-life-prank)has this pegged for an anti-abortion hoax. The prospective parents are basically fundie burlesques of pro-choicers. Also, if the couple were pro-choice, they wouldn’t ask other people to make this decision for them. And the website was registered before the woman knew she was pregnant, supposedly. What’s going to happen is the woman is going to see the light and decide to have her baby, regardless of what she’s told to do by the internets, and she’ll become a legend that fundies tell each other to get inspired. Cut, print, lock thread. Good find. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abort-or-keep-let-the-intertubes-decide/561126.md?page=2)