Couple use internet poll to decide on abortion.

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Couple use internet poll to decide on abortion.

Postby Theremin » 18 Nov 2010, 13:18

Link to Birthornot.com

This is fantastic. Or terrible.

It's fantastible.

Gawker wrote: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, 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. 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.

Pete told us over the phone that on that day 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.

They'll have two days to make a decision before the 20th week of Alisha's pregnancy ends, and, with it, her last chance to get an abortion. The poll will influence their decision heavily, the couple said by phone this evening, but it won't be binding. "It's kind of like Congress. They might vote for something, but the president has the final veto. If it's overwhelming one way or the other, that will carry a lot more weight."

That someone would do this is almost impossible to believe, of course. We asked the Arnolds if this was some sort of a prank. "No, it's not. We are taking this very seriously," Pete replied. We then asked if this was some sort of convoluted pro-life stunt. Alisha laughed. "It's definitely not a pro-life campaign," she said. "I believe in a woman's right to choose."

According to the couple, they've been unsure about whether they're ready to be parents and have concluded that the best way to proceed is to ask random people on the Internet if they should have the child. (Tests have revealed that the fetus is a boy.)

Alisha said that two pregnancies ended in two miscarriages in the past year and a half. During the second pregnancy, the couple bought the birthornot.com domain, and were in the process of deciding whether to put the birth up to a vote when they lost the baby. When Alisha got pregnant a third time a few months ago, they decided to launch birthornot.com.


Personally, I vote euthanasia for both of them.
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Re: Couple use internet poll to decide on abortion.

Postby Digital Dolphin » 18 Nov 2010, 13:28

Theremin wrote:Personally, I vote euthanasia for both of them.

Agreed!

If they keep the baby it should be given up for adoption. Obviously these people are not capable of being responsible parents. They probably want a reality TV show contract or something.
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Re: Couple use internet poll to decide on abortion.

Postby TheRocket » 18 Nov 2010, 13:33

Fucking sick.
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Re: Couple use internet poll to decide on abortion.

Postby Master Gunner » 18 Nov 2010, 13:35

...




...




...



Despite this not actually surprising me in any way, I have found myself incapable of a coherent response.
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Re: Couple use internet poll to decide on abortion.

Postby Bananafish » 18 Nov 2010, 13:39

oh my god this owns so hard hahaha
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Re: Couple use internet poll to decide on abortion.

Postby Gordon Fearman » 18 Nov 2010, 13:39

Wow judgemental people around here today. So, they're not sure what to do so they want to see what other people think. Guillotine them both, obviously!

Very open minded of you guys.
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Re: Couple use internet poll to decide on abortion.

Postby Theremin » 18 Nov 2010, 13:52

When you want opinions on whether to have a kid, you ask friends/family.

You don't create a website and allow thousands of anonymous people to decide for you.

This is basic common sense.
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Re: Couple use internet poll to decide on abortion.

Postby Darkobra » 18 Nov 2010, 13:54

Gordon, if they had to ask people with your train of thought whether or not to kill a child, I don't think they deserve to be parents at all.
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Re: Couple use internet poll to decide on abortion.

Postby Mad Madam Mimm » 18 Nov 2010, 13:56

If you've lost two children to miscarriage, that's very sad and I feel for you. But I do not understand giving random strangers on the internet the right to decide whether your third should live or die

I mean, honestly? Overlook the random stranger influence, but you've been posting HEALTH UPDATES of teh developing foetus for the past 17 weeks, and now you're going to let joe average, who probably isn't even taking teh poll seriously, decide whether it should live or die? That's fucking sick. Why don't I kidnap a kid off the street and lock him in the shed in the garden, posting blog updates about how helthy he is, and ask the people whether or not I should kill him.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for a woman's right to choose, but that's HER right to choose. Not [email protected]
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Re: Couple use internet poll to decide on abortion.

Postby Theremin » 18 Nov 2010, 13:59

...best email address ever.
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Re: Couple use internet poll to decide on abortion.

Postby GreigKM » 18 Nov 2010, 14:04

Theremin wrote:...best email address ever.

+1
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Re: Couple use internet poll to decide on abortion.

Postby Gordon Fearman » 18 Nov 2010, 14:08

Well, then you all need to rapidly gain some reading comprehension skills because:
Gawker wrote:The poll will influence their decision heavily, the couple said by phone this evening, but it won't be binding.

Note the word influence.

Darkobra wrote:Gordon, if they had to ask people with your train of thought whether or not to kill a child, I don't think they deserve to be parents at all.

But what? People with your train of thought are automatically better? The right to choose is not a matter of degrees, it is an absolute. Just because they do something you don't approve of doesn't mean that they don't deserve to be parents. Do you have all the answers?

Also, very important: IT IS NOT A CHILD. It is a small mass of cells that are festering like the most successful parasite in history. You might as well argue that conjoined twins shouldn't be allowed to separate.
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Re: Couple use internet poll to decide on abortion.

Postby Myrph » 18 Nov 2010, 14:16

I honestly don't understand the mindset necessary to make a decision such as the one this couple is making, but I respect their right to do it. Also I think most of you guys missed the fact that although this poll is influencing their decision, most likely by stimulating further discussion on the matter, they are ultimately making the decision themselves. Presumably since their first 2 attempts miscarried, there is a higher than average chance this one will as well, so I'd imagine that abortion is already a genuine option for them, if only as a means to avoid the suffering resulting from another miscarriage. Equally they must in some way feel ready for a child, otherwise they probably wouldn't have tried 3 times already and I personally hope they do chose to keep the child.

Either way though, I don't think we're in a position to judge them, not actually being in the exact position they are, and not knowing absolutely every single contributing factor to making this decision, and I'm more offended by some of the comments made here than the situation described.

Edit- Cos' I got ninja'd, +1 to all that Gordon said.
Last edited by Myrph on 18 Nov 2010, 14:26, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Couple use internet poll to decide on abortion.

Postby Theremin » 18 Nov 2010, 14:17

I sincerely that doubt the fine people of the internet have any worthwhile information to contribute to their decision.
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Re: Couple use internet poll to decide on abortion.

Postby Gordon Fearman » 18 Nov 2010, 14:26

Exactly the point I'm trying to make, Myrph. I personally don't think they should do it, but they have every right to do it. I mean, it's not like voting on people's lives is exactly new to America.

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Don't worry. This man is clearly an expert in giving abortions.

Anyway, here's the only actual news article I've been able to find on the subject.
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Re: Couple use internet poll to decide on abortion.

Postby Myrph » 18 Nov 2010, 14:36

Theremin wrote:I sincerely that doubt the fine people of the internet have any worthwhile information to contribute to their decision.


Same could be said of the so-called 'experts' and assorted others voicing their opinions against this case, why should the couple heed their words above anyone else?

Re: The Daily Mail article, I found it amusing that the quote from the ProLife spokeswoman about "Note that they place abortion above keeping the baby on their voting button choice." clearly contradicts both the pictures posted earlier in the article. Obviously not an important voice as she can't even get her facts straight!
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Re: Couple use internet poll to decide on abortion.

Postby Mad Madam Mimm » 18 Nov 2010, 14:45

"tests have revealed the fetus is a boy"

that means it has a gender. That means it's a living thing. Either that, or a french noun, and I don't recall being told it was possible for humans to birth french nouns.

Even if it is only an influence,it's still messed up. It's not like they were asking for the advice of people on the internet, it was a simple "yes" or "no". It wasn't "I require consolation and/or another opinion, it was "do you think it should live or die, yes or no"...Will it continue? Will random strangers on the internet be deciding what the child is called? Whether or not it gets baptised? What school it goes to?

This is not a decision that lies with anyone other than them.
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Re: Couple use internet poll to decide on abortion.

Postby Matt » 18 Nov 2010, 14:51

Mad Madam Mimm wrote:"tests have revealed the fetus is a boy"

that means it has a gender. That means it's a living thing. Either that, or a french noun, and I don't recall being told it was possible for humans to birth french nouns.


wut?

That's an incredibly arbitray point to base "living thing" on.

You have a determined gender at the moment of conception, based on the chromosomes accounting for you r genetic make-up.

Just because we cant see junk on a mass of 8 dividing cells doesn't mean it doesn;t have a gender.

There are all kinds of places you could draw lines regarding when a foetus warrants the rights and protections of personhood, (and that's really what the abortion debate should be about - not "is it a life" but "is it a person") like conception, brain activity, viability outside the womb, birth, etc, and those have valid arguments that could be built around them... but gender?

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Re: Couple use internet poll to decide on abortion.

Postby Master Gunner » 18 Nov 2010, 15:00

I believe Mimm is coming from more of a sociological point of view. In war, a relatively low percentage of soldiers actually fire their weapons to take a life, because humans instinctively don't want to kill another person. That's why propaganda is so focused on dehumanizes the enemy, it takes away from that built-in restriction against taking a life (see recent Cracked article on how this applies to Stormtrooper marksmanship). In this case, at least for Mimm, the opposite is happening. A fetus is more an abstract concept to a person, something that lacks permanence or real meaning. Once you get to the point where you're assigning gender and posting health updates, that applies something you can actually relate to. The prospective child goes from being a fetus, an abstract concept, to being a boy, another person, something you instinctively shy away from killing (unlike, for instance, an insect). Then they're asking us whether or not we think they should kill it.


Personally, I'm in the camp of if you don't want a baby, take preventive measures. If it happens anyway, consider adoption before abortion, which should be left as a last resort.
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Re: Couple use internet poll to decide on abortion.

Postby Theremin » 18 Nov 2010, 15:01

I knew hermaphrodites weren't really people!
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Re: Couple use internet poll to decide on abortion.

Postby Elomin Sha » 18 Nov 2010, 15:13

Retards. Retards. Retards. Retards. Retards. Retards. Retards. Retards. Retards. Retards. Retards. Retards. Retards. Retards. Retards. Retards.

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Re: Couple use internet poll to decide on abortion.

Postby elvor » 18 Nov 2010, 15:22

One thing people seem to be missing here is that she's been pregnant twice before. Twice! And they're still so unsure as to whether to have a baby that they're doing this? Have these people not heard of birth control? Because if you're this unsure, don't fucking get pregnant in the first place!
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Re: Couple use internet poll to decide on abortion.

Postby Evil Jim » 18 Nov 2010, 15:33

It's not considered a child until it can correctly name at least 100 Pokemon.
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Re: Couple use internet poll to decide on abortion.

Postby Alja-Markir » 18 Nov 2010, 16:25

@Mimm and Matt

The word you are looking for is sex. The child has a biological sex. Gender is a societal construct, a set of behaviors or qualities.

Sex is whether you are male or female. Gender is how "masculine" or "feminine" you are.

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Re: Couple use internet poll to decide on abortion.

Postby Matt » 18 Nov 2010, 16:32

Gender is synonymous with sex, alja.

It, like many english words, has multiple meanings and usages.

It means both the sex of an animal based on anatomy and the social, psycological, and physical traits associated with said sex.

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