With modern technology, Down syndrome (Trisomy 21) can be diagnosed in a baby who is still in his or her mother's womb. It is connected to congenital malformations and learning disabilities in a child.
Around June 3, YouTuber Jesse Ridgway, best known until recently for creating story-driven entertainment content, made a video announcement with his wife, Ashley, sharing that they had made the "difficult decision to terminate" their pregnancy after genetic testing results showed a 95% chance of their child being born with Down syndrome.
It is unclear how far along Ashley was at the time, but many parents first hear possible genetic risk information in the first trimester (around 10–13 weeks) through screening, and if follow-up testing is done, they may get a confirmed diagnosis in the second trimester (around 15–20 weeks).
This and his series of social media posts that followed in which he listed potential health risks that can be associated with Down syndrome received mixed reactions online, as many critics shared pictures of their children with Down syndrome, stating that their lives matter.
Talking about this recently on "Washington Watch," Frank Pavone of Priests for Life pointed out that this would have turned out completely differently without the prenatal screening.
"Do we have less compassion because we're telling the parents who find out when the baby is born that they can't kill the baby?" he posed. "It's not that we don't have compassion for you, but you just can't kill your own child."
Ridgway has cited the stats that 50% of children who have Down syndrome will have vision problems and increased chances of poor muscle tone and learning disabilities as reasons for their decision.
"Down syndrome isn't a 'blessing,'" Jesse Ridgway shared with his followers. "I didn't realize just how rough it is for the child, let alone the family … more often than not, they would be fully dependent on others for the rest of their life."
Pavone says these reasons still do not justify an abortion.
"What in the world does that say about all of us who wear glasses?" he wondered. "'They'll have poor muscle tone' – well, how about those of us that are born that have that problem? Do you mean we're gonna go out and start killing everybody that's got a learning disability? What in the world kind of mindset this is."
Ridgway has been critical of the "judgmental" and "religious-based" people for weighing in, saying, "We've seen the darkest side of humanity through this process."
As he has reportedly taken security measures for his and Ashley's protection, Pavone points out that the Ridgways continue to frame their abortion as a decision "grounded in compassion."
But the pro-lifer reiterated that "this is a dangerous way of thinking."
