When a polling site owned by renowned statistician and political analyst Nate Silver asked for an abortion story from its 1.3 million Twitter followers on Christmas Day, the organization was reportedly surprised to receive a flood of responses--but from pro-lifers about their stories of saving the unborn.
Live Action News said the tweet was made by FiveThirtyEight--sometimes called 538--in "an attempt to showcase that abortion is common and therefore acceptable, and that restrictions on abortion are harmful."
"Do you have an abortion story? We want to hear from you," FiveThirtyEight asked.
But the organization ended up bashed for an insensitive post on Christmas Day and was even called by one netizen as "Herod," alluding to the Gospel account in Matthew 2:16 on the killing of the innocent, male children in Bethlehem by King Herod after the Magi did not return to him with information on the location of Jesus.
FiveThirtyEight's tweet included an article in their website stating that "nearly 1 in 4 American women will have an abortion before the age of 45. But over the past decade, access to abortion in America has changed dramatically" because of "fewer clinics and more restrictions."
The site raised that this current setup of abortion even faces the danger of being changed totally as the United States Supreme Court has been projected by many to overturn Roe v. Wade through the landmark case Dobbs v. Jackson's Women's Health Organization in June.
"As we document the impact of these shifts, we want to include the voices of people who have had abortions in the U.S.," FiveThirtyEight explained.
"We're particularly interested in hearing from people who have had abortions over the past 10 years, but we'd love to hear your story even if you had an abortion less recently. Whatever you want to share, we are grateful for your willingness to tell your story," the organization added.
It continued noting the sensitivity of the topic such that they will keep any information in private unless consent is given for its publication. The post then included a Google Form where people can submit their abortion stories.
However, FiveThirtyEight's invitation was met by stories on women choosing to continue their pregnancy over abortion. A matter Pediatric Neurosurgeon Dr. Michael Egnor raised after observing that the thread's responses were mostly a contradiction of what they asked for.
"Shame on FiveThirtyEight for publishing this abortion endorsement on Christmas Day of all days. Christmas is, after all, the day Christians celebrate the Incarnation of the Lord of life, and it's heartening to read how many people in FiveThirtyEight's Twitter feed chose life instead," Egnor remarked in his blog.
One netizen named Sarah shared that she was asked to undergo an abortion since her unborn had a disability but she didn't do it. Sara even shared the photo of her child who now is a healthy and beautiful teenager as testament to her deciding rightly for life.
"At the ultrasound for my 2nd pregnancy we were told our baby had Down Syndrome and her heart was incompatible with life. They encouraged us to end the pregnancy. She's completely healthy," Sarah said.
While another story came from Robin who disclosed how her unwanted pregnancy turned out to become. Robin's comment included a post she made on Twitter on November 11 showing photos of her and her baby over the years until how she is now as a pretty and healthy teenager. The post was accompanied by the caption, "How it started vs. How it's going."
"I found myself unexpectedly pregnant at the age of 22 in my last semester of college with my daughter. Her father and I decided to marry, and she is still the most unexpected blessing in our lives. I cannot imagine a world without her joyful presence," Robin said.
"Why They Did That" Podcast Host Dean Cullinane responded to FiveThirtyEight stating how he could never have existed had his mother aborted him after experiencing sexual violence.
"My mom was raped and faced family pressure to abort, but she chose to keep me and raised me alone. 5 months ago my wife and I just had our first child and none of this would have happened had she followed through with people's 'suggestions'," Cullinane disclosed.
Live Action pointed out that the pro-life responses eventually caused abortion advocates to become "defensive, ridiculing, and mocking" them.
