# "Help My Baby Live" (ROish) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 23, 2007, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-baby-live-roish/409086 "2007-06-23T02:12:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-baby-live-roish/409086/1 "2007-06-23T02:12:34Z")
[NOURL=[http://www.helpmybabylive.com/](http://www.helpmybabylive.com/)]This couple wants you to give them money so that she doesn’t “have” to abort their baby. They think $50k oughta do it. Oh, and there’s a countdown - just 85 days left! [Words.fail.me](http://Words.fail.me). ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-baby-live-roish/409086/2 "2007-06-23T02:31:58Z")
I love their [“Hate Mail”](http://www.helpmybabylive.com/hate.html) section, very little of which is actually hate mail; most is actually reasonable and level-headed advice or expressions of disbelief that they chose such a course of action ratger than take personal responsibility. I’ll give then $100 if they promise they’ll not only abort this one but never have a child at all, ever. Idiots. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-baby-live-roish/409086/3 "2007-06-23T02:35:32Z")
Didn’t someone do this already but with a bunny rabbit? ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-baby-live-roish/409086/4 "2007-06-23T02:50:16Z")
I believe that site is a scam, but I also think it’s a grotesque scam. I find it more disturbing than I probably should, given the lies that are probably behind it. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-baby-live-roish/409086/5 "2007-06-23T03:14:07Z")
They’ve got $7100 so far. Everyone who is pro-life should be putting their money where their mouths are and donating to this cause. Imagine if they were doing this for a child rather than a fetus! ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-baby-live-roish/409086/6 "2007-06-23T03:24:36Z")
Can’t remember the details now, but didn’t some televangelist get on TV and tell his followers to send him money or God would strike him down or some other silly thing? Not much different really. Sad and pathetic, sure. ---
**Author:** ![skotjamb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@skotjamb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skotjamb)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-baby-live-roish/409086/7 "2007-06-23T03:33:22Z")
[QUOTE=levdrakon] Can’t remember the details now, but didn’t some televangelist get on TV and tell his followers to send him money or God would strike him down or some other silly thing? Not much different really. Sad and pathetic, sure. [/QUOTE] Actually (assuming the “abortion” is real and not a scam), it is very different. One is an idiot saying god will strike him down if he doesn’t get the money, the other is a pair of idiots claiming they will kill another if they do not get the money. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-baby-live-roish/409086/8 "2007-06-23T03:33:41Z")
Cost to raise a child: $50,000 Cost of an abortion: $150 Chances this story is legit: zero ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-baby-live-roish/409086/9 "2007-06-23T03:54:48Z")
[QUOTE=levdrakon] Can’t remember the details now, but didn’t some televangelist get on TV and tell his followers to send him money or God would strike him down or some other silly thing? [/QUOTE] Oral Roberts. He claimed God would ‘call him home’ if he didn’t raise eight megabucks. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-baby-live-roish/409086/10 "2007-06-23T03:58:35Z")
Can I donate for the abortion instead? I’m going to aitch-ee-double-hockey-sticks for that one. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-baby-live-roish/409086/11 "2007-06-23T04:20:17Z")
I wonder if they’re supposed to declare that as “income”? Doesn’t the IRS want a piece of pretty much everything? ---
**Author:** ![Annie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/858c86/32.png) [@Annie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-baby-live-roish/409086/12 "2007-06-23T04:23:37Z")
[QUOTE=Queen Bruin] Can I donate for the abortion instead? I’m going to aitch-ee-double-hockey-sticks for that one. [/QUOTE] I don’t think you’re the one going to hell for this faux-extortion ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-baby-live-roish/409086/13 "2007-06-23T04:44:22Z")
Adoption isn’t an option because “[she] doesn’t believe that she’d be able to give up a child after giving birth to it, and that’s not something [he’s] going to pressure [her] into doing.” Oh, so carrying the child for nine months won’t attach her, but a few hours of painful labor will? So rather than suffering HER pain of giving up the child that she’s attached to, she’ll just kill it instead? Makes sense. And $50,000? What about all the single parents who make ends meet for several children on a lot less than that? “Oh, we can’t afford to dress him in baby Gap and send him to private school. He’s better off dead.” I REALLY hope it’s a scam. As sick of a scam as it is, I’d feel even worse if people like this are actually in a position to raise a child. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-baby-live-roish/409086/14 "2007-06-23T04:49:44Z")
Can you imagine the misery if such a person were to actually reproduce? ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-baby-live-roish/409086/15 "2007-06-23T06:00:47Z")
So they think $50K will do it, huh. I’m betting that wouldn’t even cover the psychiatrist’s bills. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-baby-live-roish/409086/16 "2007-06-23T07:59:32Z")
How is this _not_ illegal?! Isn’t it out right extortion? I’m guessing there is no fetus to begin with, but even if it’s true, is it any different than holding a knife to your child’s throat and demanding money from a bunch of strangers? ---
**Author:** ![MerryMagdalen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@MerryMagdalen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MerryMagdalen)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-baby-live-roish/409086/17 "2007-06-23T09:09:57Z")
You know, I just went and read the website in the OP, and before they get to the part about $50k, it sounds just about like every unmarried woman I’ve talked to who’s considered abortion. My own sister has gone through it recently (including the abort-or-keep argument - some women are afraid of adoption). Now, this does not mean they’re not total arseholes. I have no knowledge of the couple who put up the website. But there seems to be a grey area where you’re living with someone, but not _quite_ that committed. And a baby is a big huge commitment, for both parties. Could it be a political statement by people who are going to do what they want anyway? Could there be no baby at all? ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-baby-live-roish/409086/18 "2007-06-23T09:10:46Z")
[QUOTE=Queen Bruin] Can I donate for the abortion instead? I’m going to aitch-ee-double-hockey-sticks for that one. [/QUOTE] I don’t LIKE abortion, but I’d far rather donate to that for this case than to let these ozobs\* raise a child with their particular mix of entitlement and illogic. So, if you’re going to aitch-ee-double-hockey-sticks, I’ll save your seat for you. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-baby-live-roish/409086/19 "2007-06-23T11:01:25Z")
[QUOTE=picunurse] How is this _not_ illegal?! Isn’t it out right extortion? I’m guessing there is no fetus to begin with, but even if it’s true, is it any different than holding a knife to your child’s throat and demanding money from a bunch of strangers? [/QUOTE] Presumably because abortion itself is legal, unlike holding a knife to your kid’s throat? I don’t think it’s straight extotion because they’re not targeting a particular person, but IANAL. It seems to me like an elaborate hypocrisy-sting by some pro-choicers, or else a performance art piece. Dumb, either way. ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-baby-live-roish/409086/20 "2007-06-23T11:15:45Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] Oral Roberts. He claimed God would ‘call him home’ if he didn’t raise eight megabucks. [/QUOTE] Yeah, and IIRC some millionaire came through at the last minute with the donation. Bastard. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-baby-live-roish/409086.md?page=2)