# 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:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**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 20, 2010, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abort-or-keep-let-the-intertubes-decide/561126/41 "2010-11-20T11:31:08Z")
Careful, Dio. That’s maximalist talk. Apparently. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2010, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abort-or-keep-let-the-intertubes-decide/561126/42 "2010-11-20T16:34:42Z")
I’m actually tempted to pay for a membership, just so I can change my screen name to “Maximalist” and my title to “Whimsical”. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2010, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abort-or-keep-let-the-intertubes-decide/561126/43 "2010-11-20T17:07:25Z")
> [@Laudenum](#): > > It may be a hoax, but if we are honest there are posters on here who place literally no value on the foetus - for them there would be no moral difficulty in basing the decision to abort and then have another, or keep this one, on the decision of a group of strangers. cite? > [@athelas](#): > > Any abortion rights maximalist - folks who believe that a woman’s whim is sufficient for an abortion, and oppose attempts to put any restrictions or make it even slightly inconvenient. Er…what? I believe all those things, sure. What does that have to do with basing the decision on “a group of strangers”? To be clear, I don’t think it’s immoral of a woman to decide to get an abortion because a random group of people on the internet tell her to, I just think it’s stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Laudenum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Laudenum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laudenum)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2010, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abort-or-keep-let-the-intertubes-decide/561126/44 "2010-11-20T21:30:53Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Well, there are no names in that response, and it doesn’t match Laudenum’s original claim anyway; that there are people on this board who would leave the choice to strangers. I think you misunderstood my point. There are people on this board who have said repeatedly that the foetus has no value - it is only a bunch of cells. People who view the foetus in that way - entirely inconsequential - would have no huge problem with putting an abortion to a public vote (provided obviously that they are ambivilent themselves). ---
**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 20, 2010, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abort-or-keep-let-the-intertubes-decide/561126/45 "2010-11-20T21:43:06Z")
> [@Laudenum](#): > > I think you misunderstood my point. > > There are people on this board who have said repeatedly that the foetus has no value - it is only a bunch of cells. > > People who view the foetus in that way - entirely inconsequential - would have no huge problem with putting an abortion to a public vote (provided obviously that they are ambivilent themselves). Are you really that pork stupid? It shouldn’t BE up to a public vote – it should be up to the woman who is pregnant. PERIOD. (You can’t tell me you actually believed this kind of stunt was real?) ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2010, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abort-or-keep-let-the-intertubes-decide/561126/46 "2010-11-20T21:43:28Z")
> [@Laudenum](#): > > I think you misunderstood my point. > > There are people on this board who have said repeatedly that the foetus has no value - it is only a bunch of cells. > > People who view the foetus in that way - entirely inconsequential - would have no huge problem with putting an abortion to a public vote (provided obviously that they are ambivilent themselves). That’s ridiculous. Putting the fate of a bunch of cells up to a majority vote is exactly opposite of what the pro-choice movement is about. I’m sure the folks in Oklahoma and Nebraska, among others, would love to vote away an individual’s right to decide. A pro-choice person would have no problem with such a poll if it was advisory, or even a joke, but certainly not with making the outcome binding. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2010, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abort-or-keep-let-the-intertubes-decide/561126/47 "2010-11-20T22:08:44Z")
> [@Laudenum](#): > > I think you misunderstood my point. > > There are people on this board who have said repeatedly that the foetus has no value - it is only a bunch of cells. > > People who view the foetus in that way - entirely inconsequential - would have no huge problem with putting an abortion to a public vote (provided obviously that they are ambivilent themselves). This is a non-sequitur. One does not follow from the other. ---
**Author:** ![Laudenum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Laudenum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laudenum)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2010, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abort-or-keep-let-the-intertubes-decide/561126/48 "2010-11-20T23:06:30Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Are you really that pork stupid? It shouldn’t BE up to a public vote – it should be up to the woman who is pregnant. PERIOD. (You can’t tell me you actually believed this kind of stunt was real?) What if the woman who is pregnant wants it to be decided by a public vote? ---
**Author:** ![emacknight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ec8ea/32.png) [@emacknight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emacknight)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abort-or-keep-let-the-intertubes-decide/561126/49 "2010-11-21T00:41:12Z")
> [@Laudenum](#): > > What if the woman who is pregnant wants it to be decided by a public vote? What if it’s an anchor baby??? What if she’s a virgin??? What if she was raped by a werewolf or seduced by a sparkly vampire??? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abort-or-keep-let-the-intertubes-decide/561126/50 "2010-11-21T01:19:06Z")
> [@Laudenum](#): > > What if the woman who is pregnant wants it to be decided by a public vote? Well, I would vote for her to abort because she’s an idiot and we have a substantial idiot surplus. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abort-or-keep-let-the-intertubes-decide/561126/51 "2010-11-21T01:25:09Z")
I’ve read a story on this somewhere (I forget where, so no link, sorry) in which the people involved (or at least the woman) claims that the poll is serious and that they/she is not pro-life. ---
**Author:** ![Peeta\_Mellark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Peeta\_Mellark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peeta_Mellark)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abort-or-keep-let-the-intertubes-decide/561126/52 "2010-11-21T01:39:57Z")
[Fake.](http://jezebel.com/5694230/couple-behind-internet-abortion-vote-deny-anti+choice-stunt-despite-internet-evidence) > [@](#): > > Pierre “Pete” Arnold III also used to be a “researcher, contributor, and part time producer for the Race to the Right radio show in St Cloud.” He blogged at Always Right, Usually Correct, which had a hard anti-choice bent. He used the aliases “The Pete” and “Zeeboid” - indeed, the latter is both a domain he owns and the userid for his gmail account - but it’s not that hard to track down. And “Zeeboid” trolled the Daily Kos wiki to change their definition of pro-choice: > [@](#): > > The term “pro-choice” is used by men and women who support a woman’s right to kill an unborn child. > The term means that a woman has the right to determine whether or not she will be pregnant by killing a baby that has already been conceived. ---
**Author:** ![emacknight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ec8ea/32.png) [@emacknight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emacknight)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abort-or-keep-let-the-intertubes-decide/561126/53 "2010-11-21T01:43:05Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Well, I would vote for her to abort because she’s an idiot and we have a substantial idiot surplus. I would vote for her to keep it because she’s obviously a slut that deserves to be punished. If she didn’t want to be pregnant she should have kept her legs shut like a proper woman. ---
**Author:** ![emacknight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ec8ea/32.png) [@emacknight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emacknight)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abort-or-keep-let-the-intertubes-decide/561126/54 "2010-11-21T01:44:10Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > I’ve read a story on this somewhere (I forget where, so no link, sorry) in which the people involved (or at least the woman) claims that the poll is serious and that they/she is not pro-life. Weird, I was just going to say that I read a story that claimed the poll is a stunt and that the woman is pro-life. ---
**Author:** ![Nancarrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@Nancarrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nancarrow)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abort-or-keep-let-the-intertubes-decide/561126/55 "2010-11-21T01:46:38Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Well, I would vote for her to abort because she’s an idiot and we have a substantial idiot surplus. This is essentially [P.Z. Myers’s](http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2010/11/an_online_abortion_poll_for_re.php) take on it, and mine too. Or would be, if we were to take the poll’s existence at face value. Which we shouldn’t. ---
**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 21, 2010, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abort-or-keep-let-the-intertubes-decide/561126/56 "2010-11-21T01:54:32Z")
> [@Laudenum](#): > > I think you misunderstood my point. > > There are people on this board who have said repeatedly that the foetus has no value - it is only a bunch of cells. > > People who view the foetus in that way - entirely inconsequential - would have no huge problem with putting an abortion to a public vote (provided obviously that they are ambivilent themselves). I second the “non-sequitur” objection. She’s free to make her _choice_ in any way and with any outcome she chooses, and I don’t see why she has to have a reason other people find acceptable. If it truly is her right, I figure by definition her reasons are nobody’s business. Anyway, let’s indulge the hypothetical and assume she really is claiming to put the issue to a public vote. Is she obliged to adhere to the result of that vote? Can she still decide to ignore the result and make her own decision? I’m going to need some additional detail if she can’t. And it doesn’t matter anyway, because I figure she’s free to choose to terminate her pregnancy if a thousand strangers tell her so, or if she got pregnant on an unlucky (in her view) Wednesday, or if her due date is in a month with an “R” in it, or for any reason, or for no reason. I don’t demand an author justify why he chose to exercise his freedom of expression when writing a book (nor would I ever wish to imply that his reasons must be good ones, by my standards) so why should I care why a woman chooses to terminate her pregnancy? Your implication that I should be upset by a public-vote abortion is stupid and I dismiss it. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abort-or-keep-let-the-intertubes-decide/561126/57 "2010-11-21T03:04:21Z")
> [@Laudenum](#): > > What if the woman who is pregnant wants it to be decided by a public vote? Again, stupid, but not immoral. Kind of like if a person decided to have a boob job based on a public vote. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abort-or-keep-let-the-intertubes-decide/561126/58 "2010-11-21T03:53:28Z")
> [@Nancarrow](#): > > This is essentially [P.Z. Myers’s](http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2010/11/an_online_abortion_poll_for_re.php) take on it, and mine too. Or would be, if we were to take the poll’s existence at face value. Which we shouldn’t. Thanks for that link! It had another leading to the “genuine” poll on whether to abort. So I was able to cast my ballot for an abortion. Too bad they don’t allow you to state a reason. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abort-or-keep-let-the-intertubes-decide/561126/59 "2010-11-21T17:41:16Z")
I’m surprised that only 80% voted to carry to term. I think they’re trying to show that overwhelming majorities oppose abortion. But abortion rights supporters generally aren’t in the business of urging women to get abortions, so of course the results are going to be lopsided. “Should I get an abortion” and “Should abortion remain legal” are two very different questions. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abort-or-keep-let-the-intertubes-decide/561126.md?page=2)