Alisha Arnold works in a small software company. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in English, and is married to Pete Arnold who also has a Bachelor’s Degree in Technical Writing and works at a small IT consulting business. They are an ordinary American couple in every sense of the word, except that they are using social media on their website, Birth or Not, to decide whether they should abort the foetus, nicknamed Wiggles, that she is carrying.
December 9th is the last legal day that they can have an abortion in Minnesota, the American state where they live. The voting will stay open until the 7th of December, in order to give them enough time to have the abortion if that is what the collective has decided.
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In two days, the voting on Birth or Not has skyrocketed from 250 000 votes to over a million. People around the world are incensed, intrigued, and involved. Pete wrote on 21st of November that, “You have undoubtedly noticed a large shift in the votes from yesterday to today. They went from 81/19 in favor of Giving Birth to what they are at the time of this posting : 42/58 in favor of Abortion. This change has happened in approximately a 30 hour period.”
Why are they doing this? In their own words: “Voting is such an integral part of the American identity. We vote on everything. We vote on things ranging 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? Your vote can help a real couple to make a decision on this issue.”
4Chan, the aggressive, anonymous internet collective have gotten involved with predictably negative results. Alisha posted a letter that she received, imploring her to only consider the votes that were submitted before 4chan became involved. The letter says “Telling 4chan members that what they’re doing is ‘wrong’ or encouraging them to ‘do the right thing’ will not work. You cannot convince these people to act with any sense of morals, logic, reason, or conscientiousness. If anything, it will only give them more reason to mess up the life of someone else (namely you).”
England’s Daily Mail newspaper has accused the couple of perpetuating a fraud, and has evidence that the husband Pete is a fervent anti-abortion crusader.
The paper reports that “After it went viral last week critics were outraged by Birth or Not, and some always believed it was a hoax. Alisha was supposedly 17 weeks pregnant and web users had until December 7 to cast their vote – just two days before the 20-week cut-off line for a state-legal abortion.”
The story goes on to quote Mary Spaulding Balch, director of state legislation for National Right to Life, who said: “This is shocking.The first thing that came to my mind when I heard of this was the Roman Colosseum when the mob picked who lived and who died.”
But Pete and Alisha remain strangely detached from the furore, adopting a measured, placid tone, almost as if they were discussing whether to keep a puppy or a kitten. “We invite you take this journey with us as we contemplate our own options and encourage you to utilize this site to vote and voice your opinion in a way that will have a real consequence… in a way that truly matters. Here, your vote will not go unheard. For the first time in history, your vote on the topic of abortion will not go unheard.”
“Birth or Not” is a strange and unsettling idea, and forces one to question what limits there are to how people use social media. What will these people vote on next? Whether to send their child to school or not? To take him/her to the doctor? Where does it end?
Whatever happens next, there is only one real loser in this whole sorry tale, and it’s a 17-week old foetus called Wiggles.
UPDATE: American blog CITY PAGES has released compelling evidence that this is all a hoax, and that Pete Arnold is also known as “Zeeboid, a right wing internet troll.” The Arnolds deny all claims, insisting that Birth or Not is genuine and that they really are pregnant.
