YouTube influencer facing backlash after abortion post

Influencer Jesse Ridgway and his wife, Ashley, ended a pregnancy after genetic testing showed the child may have Down syndrome. Ridgway, known as McJuggerNuggets, released a lengthy statement on Wednesday, citing the chromosomal disorder as the reason for the abortion.

At least half of babies born with Down syndrome have heart defects, he said. Those babies also have a high risk of hearing challenges, and vision problems, along with other impaired functions, like learning and developmental disabilities, he wrote. Down syndrome isn’t a blessing, and most people don’t know all that it entails, he added.

Genetic counselors told the couple that up to 90% of women terminate their pregnancies after learning the child may have Trisomy 21, Ridgway claimed. It was a difficult decision that will be beneficial for his family in the long run, since the couple hoped to try again with a better outcome, Ridgway concluded.

The couple filmed a video of them opening and reading the test results for the first time, which Ridgway described as very traumatic. After reading the results, Ridgway admitted he and his wife would consider abortion. The baby is healthy, and there are stories of Down syndrome babies born perfectly functional, Ridgway said as Ashley continued crying.

How are people responding? Swaths of pro-life advocates released statements condemning the would-be parents and mourning the death of the unborn child. This won’t stand, especially since research showed 99% of individuals with Down syndrome live happy lives with families who love them, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America wrote. Families deserve truthful information, and children inside or outside the womb should never be discriminated against, the group added.

Students for Life President Kristan Hawkins characterized the decision as morally bankrupt eugenics. Hawkins hoped her son with cystic fibrosis didn’t read Ridgway’s post, she added. A child who deserved to be loved and cared for was killed for being disabled, the pro-life advocacy group Live Action wrote.

Children with Down syndrome deserve to live because they are made and dearly loved by God, wrote ATTWN CEO, Dr. Abby Johnson. It’s disgusting that a child was murdered in the womb for having Down syndrome, she added.

Pro-life advocate Katy Faust shared testimony from women in her life who received the same diagnosis and still kept the child for as long as possible. One of those babies is now 14 and still going strong, Faust wrote. Each one of these children is a testament to the inherent value of human life and choosing now to sacrifice the weak for the sake of the strong, she added.

The Heritage Foundation called attention to what it said was the irony of a post Ridgway shared less than two weeks ago, where he praised his dog as a superhero and fighter for living one year with stage 4 Kidney disease.