Nov 10
18
Couple seeks “democratic” execution of their infant
Daily Mail – November 18, 2010
‘Should we have an abortion – you decide’: Couple set up website on whether they should keep unborn child
A married couple have sparked fury by setting up a website to let the public vote on whether or not they should have an abortion. Pete and Alisha Arnold, both 30, launched www.birthornot.com because they are unsure if they want to be parents. They launched the controversial poll so the public could ‘make a difference in the real world’. The couple, from Minneapolis, have uploaded regular scan images of the foetus, which is a perfectly-healthy boy they have nicknamed ‘Wiggles’. Alisha is now 17 weeks pregnant and web users have until December 7 to cast their vote – just two days before the 20-week cut-off line for a state-legal abortion.
The latest results shows a fairly split opinion, with 46.27 per cent voting to keep the baby and 53.73 per cent wanting the couple to have an abortion.
Writing on her blog, Alisha said she fears the pressure of juggling motherhood and a career could cause her to have a nervous breakdown. She wrote: ‘I’m not convinced that I want to change the status quo. I feel that as I age I’ve actually gotten more selfish and set in my ways. ‘I’m afraid that I will eventually regret starting a family and “settling down”, as they say. I fear that the constant pressure to be the perfect wife and mother while maintaining a full-time job will eventually cause my brain to implode and lead to a nervous breakdown.’
Their solution to the dilemma was to set up a public vote, which the couple say is in the best traditions of American democracy. They state on the site: ‘Voting is such an integral part of the American identity. We vote on everything from the best singer on American Idol to who the next leader of the free world will be. Wouldn’t it be nice to voice your opinion and have it actually make a difference in the real world? Why not vote on whether to continue or abort an actual pregnancy?’