Want to Kill a Fetus? Here's Your Chance!

Ah, the internet. You have to love how digital democracy connects people together from all over the world, helping humanity achieve its loftiest aspirations. The Captain has posted recently about one online poll that gave users the opportunity to send an artist to his death via the electric chair and another where overzealous patriots abused their voting privileges, casting doubt on the legitimacy of an American hero's hard-won dance floor triumphs.

Here we have a case of a couple wracked with doubt over whether or not they should take the plunge into parenthood, so they're relying on the wisdom of the web community to guide their decision whether or not to snuff out the life of baby "Wiggles" before it has a chance to begin. Won't you please do your part and cast your vote? Don't force this couple to make this wrenching decision without your input, they need your help!

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.

[...]

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.

[...]

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?'

Why not, indeed.

[Daily Mail]