Couple stage vote on whether to have an abortion

A husband and wife from the US have sparked outrage by staging a public vote on whether to kill their unborn baby.

Pete and Alisha Arnold, from Minneapolis, say they launched www.birthornot.com  because they are unsure if they want to be parents. They believe that allowing the public to decide whether to abort their 17-week unborn baby could “make a difference in the real world”.  Alisha Arnold wrote on her blog: "I'm afraid I will eventually regret starting a family and settling down."

The couple are uploading regular scans of the healthy unborn boy they have nicknamed ‘Wiggles’. They have given web users until 7 December 2010 to cast their vote – just two days before the deadline for legally aborting the baby.

Married nine years, the Arnolds have suffered two miscarriages in the past 10 months.  Their first planned pregnancy ended in miscarriage in January at 16 weeks and the second planned pregnancy ended in miscarriage in April at five weeks.  Despite falling pregnant again, they say they are unsure whether to proceed.

Alisha wrote on her blog: “I feel that as I age I’ve actually gotten more selfish and set in my ways. I’m afraid 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.”

The couple is denying claims that this is some sort of a publicity stunt.

"We are taking this very seriously. It's definitely not a pro-life campaign, we believe in a woman's right to choose,” they say.

A spokesman for the Pro-Life Alliance, said: “Whatever the intention behind this horrifying and objectionable website, the couple in question are maintaining that they will respect the public vote on whether to abort or not.”

“Note that they place abortion above keeping the baby on their voting button choice.  Whatever may or may not be real about this website, the ultrasound of the baby is of a real human being.  To think for one minute that his or her existence is going to be determined by those who log on and vote is absolutely spine-chilling.”

Sources:

Daily Mail
Daily Express
Mirror

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