So this abortion thing is pretty controversial. It gets people riled up to the point of ad hominem attacks and even physical threats. Which brings us to the question: What the hell are these people doing?

Meet Pete and Alisha Arnold, two 30-year-olds living in a Minneapolis suburb. They’ve been married for 10 years, and since September, they’ve been posting health updates of their expected baby son on birthornot.com As the site’s address suggests, they’re also letting the Internet vote on whether or not Alisha should go through with the birth—or terminate her pregnancy at 20 weeks.

Yes, this is actually happening.

Polls close on December 7, and the Arnolds will make their final decision by the 9th.

In the checks-and-balances system of pregnancy, Pete told Gawker, he and his wife are the president:

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.

But seriously, why the hell would anyone do this?

At Gawker, Adrian Chen covers the bases. It’s either a dumb plea for fame, a pro-life stunt, or it’s real. Let’s hope that it’s not real, but even if it’s some kind of joke, there’s another pretty big problem here.

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If the Arnolds have their son, he’ll know that his parents gave people the opportunity to vote on whether or not he should’ve been born. He’ll be born into a family that documented his fate for all of us to see.

He’ll be born knowing that his parents put his life in the hands of random strangers, basically making his birth a coin toss.

Pete Arnold said that he believes in a woman’s right to choose, but isn’t that based on it being her own, private decision? The exact opposite of what’s going on here?

The Arnolds said they’ve experienced two miscarriages in the past 18 months, which I’m sure were both awful. And they also said they’re still not sure they’re ready to be parents.

Sounds like you guys answered that one for yourselves.

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