Jesse Ridgway Continues Defending Aborting Baby With Down Syndrome

YouTube star Jesse Ridgway continues defending he and his wife’s decision to have an abortion and end the life of their baby who may or may not have had Down syndrome.

In a new interview with People, Ridgway said he and his wife Ashley faced unprecedented backlash after aborting their unborn baby following a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome, but insisted the decision was not made lightly.

Ridgway, 33, who runs the McJuggerNuggets YouTube channel with 4.34 million subscribers, announced the abortion earlier this month on X. In a follow-up interview with People magazine published Wednesday, he described weighing the realities of raising a child with the non-fatal condition.

Please follow LifeNews.com on Gab for the latest pro-life news and info, free from social media censorship.

“We were confronting the scenario of having the baby, and playing out every possible scenario about what it would look like and how we would make it work, what happens if they have these health problems, and need these surgeries,” Ridgway said. “It was so real to us. I wish people could empathize with us, and know this wasn’t some black and white decision.”

He added that the couple had spoken with doctors, friends, family and genetic counselors and learned that up to 90 percent of babies are killed in abortions after a Down syndrome diagnosis. Somehow that made the decision morally acceptable.

He wrote that the couple needed “a little time to move on” but were excited to “try again” for “a better outcome.”

Ridgway acknowledged the intense public reaction.

“I’ve been making content for 20 years, so we’ve seen hate before. But not to this degree,” he said. “Every second is a new death threat towards me and my wife. The amount of private support we’ve received is also overwhelming.”

He noted that the experience had prompted longtime acquaintances to share their own abortion stories and said the subject “has ignited a reaction from every corner of the world.”

The announcement drew swift and strong condemnation from pro-life advocates and parents of children with Down syndrome, who argued that the baby’s life held inherent value regardless of disability.

Live Action responded that “Your child deserved so much more. Disabled children are just as valuable as able-bodied children. Killing children because of a diagnosis isn’t just ableism. It’s evil.”

Federalist editor-in-chief Mollie Hemingway called the decision “sad and dark, and, yes, evil.”

Co-founder Sean Davis was blunt: “You didn’t ‘terminate a pregnancy.’ You murdered your own baby.”

Former Sen. Rick Santorum, whose daughter has Trisomy 18, shared his family’s experience and grieved that Ridgway “bought the lies of a society that places yourself above others, even your own children.”

Multiple parents posted photos of their children with Down syndrome, describing them as blessings who enriched their families despite challenges.

The case also highlights broader concerns about prenatal testing.

A 2014 study and reporting by The New York Times found that non-invasive prenatal blood tests for certain chromosomal conditions, including some linked to disabilities, carry an average false-positive rate of 85 percent, though tests for Down syndrome tend to be more reliable but not fail-safe.

Critics note that such screening has coincided with high abortion rates for positive diagnoses—67 percent in the United States and far higher in parts of Europe—often without confirmatory testing or full counseling about life with Down syndrome.

Recent reports in The Atlantic and CBS News found that nearly 100 percent of unborn babies who test positive for Down syndrome are aborted in Iceland, 95 percent in Denmark, 77 percent in France and 67 percent in the United States.

Ridgway said he understands reactions from “political or religious” standpoints but maintained the couple’s choice reflected the difficult realities they confronted.

“For any couple who has gone through a decision like this, it never leaves your mind,” he said. “Years from now, I’ll be thinking about it.”

His baby will never have that chance.