Birth or Not abortion site: Real or hoax?

Some wonder whether Pete and Alisha Arnold's website BirthOrNot.com is real or a political statement. (Photo Credit: CC BY-SA/lunar caustic/Flickr)

According to Life Site News, Pete and Alisha Arnold are a happy 30-something couple living in Apple Valley, Minn. Alisha is supposedly pregnant. Their unborn child is at 17 weeks. However, the couple claims to be torn over whether to have the baby, so they’ve created a website called Birth or Not (BirthOrNot.com). The Arnolds say they want the world to help them decide whether they should give birth or have an abortion.

Birth or Not has its skeptics

The Ministry of Truth blog suggests – and presents possible evidence – that Pete and Alisha Arnold have no intention of obtaining an abortion but want to make a political statement with Birth or Not. The first possible sign is a statement on BirthOrNot.com that reads “For the first time, your vote on the topic of abortion can make a difference.” Another sign comes from Pete Arnold, who is quoted in the Life Site News story as saying, “We don’t see a difference between this and what politicians or supporters do in regards to campaigning.”

Mind your dates and domains

The rhetoric sounds political and impersonal to the Ministry of Truth, but the investigation doesn’t stop at judging appearances. After some Google Analytics investigation, a connection was found between Birth or Not and a climate change denier website called The Church of Global Warming. The tone of that site is right-wing conservative, says Ministry of Truth, and it is also registered to Pete and Alisha Arnold.

However, the hard evidence that pulls back the curtain is calendar dates. According to the Ministry of Truth, the Whois record for domain name BirthOrNot.com was registered on May 17, 2010. However, Pete and Alisha Arnold must have conceived in late July or early August, as they claim their unborn fetus is 17 weeks old today, Nov. 19. Thus, Birth or Not was first registered nine to 10 weeks before conception.

How the Birth or Not poll is going

Currently, 80.51 percent of poll respondents favor birth, while 19.49 percent want the Arnolds to abort. Pete and Alisha Arnold say the poll will close on Dec. 7, “two days before the last day they could get an abortion,” writes Life Site News.