Couple asks Internet users whether or not they should abort their child

By Catholic Online
11/22/2010
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Minneapolis couple says Web site is inspired by Democracy

A Minneapolis couple is asking the users of the World Wide Web whether or not they should abort their unborn child. The couple insists that it's not a joke, and is genuinely seeking reaction and response to their request.

Pete and Alisha Arnold, with their Web site birthornot.com says that the Internet voting will close just before the twentieth week of the pregnancy -- and thus the window of time for a legal abortion) ends.

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LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Pete and Alisha Arnold, with their Web site birthornot.com says that the Internet voting will close just before the twentieth week of the pregnancy -- and thus the window of time for a legal abortion) ends. The Arnolds will then have two days to make their personal decision.

"Voting is such an important part of who we are as people," Pete explains. "Here's a chance where people can be heard about whether they are pro-choice or whether they are pro-life, and it makes a difference in the real world." But don't get too drunk with power here: "It's kind of like Congress. They might vote for something, but the president has the final veto," he says.

The Arnolds' poll has been spammed multiple times already by users of 4Chan piling on votes for the "have an abortion" option. There are also people who may think the poll's very existence is probably a pretty clear answer to the question at hand.

"We wanted to give people a chance to voice their opinions in a real situation where it makes a difference," Alisha Arnold says.

"I wanted to wait longer because I was losing weight and living a healthier lifestyle," she said. "I wasn't sure what to do."

Hence, the poll. "We are using it to help determine our decision, but we will still make the final decision," she said.

Bloggers debate whether the Arnolds' poll was a hoax, an effort to influence the nation's debate on abortion or simply a bizarre use of the Internet to publicize a normally deeply private matter.

According to the Web site, the public can weigh in until Dec. 7. Last week, the vote was in favor of birth by a margin of 23,840 to 5,978.

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Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: Abortion, Internet poll, Democracy

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1 - 10 of 14 Comments

DLL
2 years ago
I am only going to make one comment related to all of this controversy. Women are sacred by the nature of their sex as they are gifted by God to become MOTHERS. Everyone who is born can be thankful to a Mother. Sorry 2 comments:Abortion is a misunderstanding of what Motherhood is. Sorry 3 comments: Men who encourage any woman that they have impregnated to have an abortion are as guilty as the woman who was forced to make the poor choice for abortion.
vance
2 years ago
Culture of Death anyone? I am an old 'baby boomer' who has seen quite a lot BUT this marks a new low. I've watched our western society go from the gutter down to the sewer. This event signals that we have arrived in the septic tank. According to Yahoo News the votes have been 3 to 1 in favor of saving the life of the baby but this was 2 weeks ago. I have not seen anything in the news since. Sadly, I haven't heard any outrage coming from anywhere. I guess our society considers this as 'Oh Hum'.
Gregory
2 years ago
Without debate, pose the question to the devil and to Jesus Christ.....you have your answer period. Take note each of us will eventually take to account his /her life in this world.
Pat
2 years ago
Do you both love each other? Have you not given yourself fully to one another? Then, this is a product of your love. Your love is a celebration of a union between man and woman. This child is the outpouring of your love. You have created this child as God has created you. Cherish the moment and keep this beautiful child that belongs to you a gift from God.
NANCY
2 years ago
oh please listen to Anne-Marie and keep this child its going to be the love of your life and i bet you will not regret it .children are a gift from God.
Nino Baldino
2 years ago
Here we go again...lets hold this up to a public vote..remember this is what the so called mob did to Jesus. How many of the pro-Jesus folks in that mob had the courage to yell..No,dont crucify Him He is innocent!!! When the movies came upon the scene suddenly there were nut cases out there,and some smartos..who started performing feats for the cameras and getting their names publicized...walking on a tight rope over a street etc etc...this is one of those...it was so warm and cuddily that our beloved sensitive ivy league president in the white house pardoned a turkey for thanksgiving..would that he would pardon a developing baby from being murdered by its mom...go figure this nut house of a nation......
Danielle
2 years ago
This is absolutely APPALLING and I will be praying for this poor unborn child.
JeanCatherine
2 years ago
Let us pray to Lord that they keep this precious child. May the Lord bless and protect this familiy in their decision.
Anna-Marie
2 years ago
http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=457222737031&set=a.456939357031.249713.602172031

This is a photo of my great-niece, Lynnear Anne Nance, who was born on October 20, 2010, via emergency C-section at 7 months gestation. She is 30 days old in this picture. Her parents, Carrie and Curt have been at her side, since the day of her birth, with daddy Curt only leaving to go to work. Please take some time to go through their abundance of pictures of baby Lynnie. Note the perfection of her features, although she is so tiny, her palm is the size of a dime. Every day Lynnie fights to not only survive, but to be big and strong enough to have the feeding tube removed and to be able to fit into her car seat, two more things required so that she can go home.

My first child was still born at 20 weeks gestation--perfect features, fingers and toes. The medical criteria for whether or not to save him--he had to weigh at least one pound, which he did not. My water had broken, and I would have had to remain in the hospital for the remainder of my pregnancy. I felt so strongly about saving my child that I would not let them induce, even though I was risking infection for myself, until there was no heart beat. I even had a HUGE argument with the doctor who wanted to induce immediately, yet said there was no chance of saving my baby once it was born. I was angry enough and idealistic enough that I would not let him near me and even waited until shift change before I would let them do any more than start an IV. You cannot imagine what it felt like then, going through the entire birth process while knowing what fate awaited my child once it was born. After hours of painful labor and heartache, I remember the announcement, "It's a boy," then, "he's so tiny"--right before dropping my little piece of humanity into a bucket.

My son would be 31 years old today, and there isn't a week that goes by that I don't wonder what his life would have been like if he had lived. I have had four subsequent pregnancies, one of the children lost to miscarriage at 3 months gestation and one lost in a tragic accident at age 18. I had difficulty carrying all of my children to term, even had my doctor telling me with my youngest, when I came in bleeding during my first trimester, "Don 't come back to me in this condition unless you want an abortion."

If anyone understands your question, I do, because it would have been easier for me not to have to spend so much time in bed, feeling like an overgrown incubator. I understand wanting to wait until you are "ready," but the reality is that if everyone waited until we were ready, a lot few children would be born in this world. Think about this, though. How will you feel 30 years from now if this baby of yours doesn't get a chance at life--for whatever reason. I know how I feel, and I wonder whether I could have persuaded them to save my baby if I had not waited and let them induce or insisted on an emergency C-section, since my body did not go into labor on it's own like it should have.

I have noticed that many people have chosen condemnation and ridicule rather than really answering the question, and I don't think that's really what you are looking for. Having been raised in today's society of sexual tolerance and carelessness, how could young couples not be confused. It is very easy to be judgemental when someone has not walked in your shoes. I believe I have, at least to a point, just as i believe that it has been a stop on the path of life that forever changed me as a person.

I urge you to take down this poll and return to living as quietly as you can, take what has become a public spectacle and make it what it should have been in the first place--a quiet decision to have this child and raise it with love, doing the best you can as a family and knowing that it has to be enough. I know in my heart that you will come to the right decision.

God Bless you.
Jennifer Starr
2 years ago
It's also put 'Baby Wiggles' at risk. Alisha Arnold is on bedrest due to the stress (largely self-inflicted) and she's lost her job. Tell me, Dan,is it worth it? To make a political point or to get a little free publicity? Is Wiggles just 'collateral' to be sacrificed to a 'cause'?

I think it's time that we quit trying to pretend this couple has any sort of noble purpose and call it what it is. Blatant publicity whoring for fame and $$.

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