YouTuber mocked Down syndrome before aborting baby over condition
YouTuber Jesse Ridgway faces backlash after announcing he aborted his child following a Down syndrome diagnosis, with critics resurfacing a 2017 video showing him mocking people with the condition.
Jesse Ridgway, an internet personality, posted a 45-minute video in 2017 in which he portrayed a character with Down syndrome using exaggerated stereotypical voice patterns and mannerisms commonly employed to ridicule developmentally disabled individuals, according to New York Post.
The footage, filmed during production of his series “The Devil Inside,” shows Ridgway slurring his speech while claiming to have Down syndrome and expressing a desire to visit Chuck E. Cheese. The scene depicts his character undergoing a mental breakdown and transforming into someone with the genetic condition.
Ridgway later attempted to justify the offensive portrayal as artistic expression, claiming he was playing a character whose brain had been damaged. He told TMZ that his character Isaac Kalder had hijacked Jesse Ridgway’s life, and when forced to rapidly switch between characters, the rapid identity changes fried his brain.
The explanation demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of Down syndrome. People born with the condition do not have damaged or fried brains. Instead, the presence of an extra copy of chromosome 21 alters their brain structure.
Recent Abortion Announcement Sparks Backlash
On Wednesday, Ridgway announced on Instagram that he and his wife Ashley had chosen to terminate their pregnancy after receiving a Trisomy 21 diagnosis. He described the decision as difficult and devastating, claiming the experience had been extremely traumatic for both of them, particularly his wife.
Trisomy 21, another name for Down syndrome, is a genetic condition caused by the presence of an extra chromosome. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that one in every 640 babies born in the United States has Down syndrome.
Anti-abortion advocates note that approximately 90 percent of pregnancies in which Trisomy 21 is detected result in termination. The statistic highlights a disturbing pattern of prenatal discrimination against children with the condition.
The resurfaced video has intensified criticism of Ridgway’s decision, with observers noting the apparent contradiction between his past mockery of individuals with Down syndrome and his subsequent choice to end his child’s life based on the same diagnosis.
With information from New York Post
