Man Saves His Dying Dog But Aborts His Down Syndrome Baby

Popular YouTuber Jesse Ridgway went viral Wednesday on X for a post defending his and his wife’s choice to get an abortion because their unborn child received a diagnosis of “Trisomy 21,” or Down Syndrome.

Ridgway explained, “I didn’t realize just how rough it is for the child, let alone the family … more often than not, [the child] would be fully dependent on others for the rest of their life.”

In other words, Ridgway did not want the responsibility of taking care of his own flesh and blood. But he will do that for his dog.

Ridgway’s dog, Jenny, was diagnosed with stage 4 kidney disease after a tick bite in 2025. Jenny is still alive a year later as “.0001% of superhero dogs that can continue living with no kidneys,” he said on X.

Ridgway said in a different post that he believes Jenny is still alive because “She WANTS to be here with us.”

Ridgway has no complaints about taking care of his animal, saying the day Jenny got sick was “one of the saddest days of my life.” The opposite is true of his child.

On his abortion post, Ridgway said, “It will take a little time to move on, but we are excited to try again in the future and hopefully have a better outcome.”

Ridgway’s response to his child’s death sounds like what someone would say after a pet is put down due to complications. His loves and priorities are completely backwards.

As the West continues to leave behind a sacred view of the family and a religious love for the sanctity of life, murderers like Ridgway, who trade children for pets, become more common — and accepted.

In Iceland, nearly 100 percent of preborn children diagnosed with Down Syndrome are aborted. Only two or three Icelandic children with Down Syndrome reportedly survive the state’s eugenics program each year. Those numbers are only slightly better in Denmark, where 98% of preborn babies that are screened positive for Down Syndrome are aborted. In France, the number is 77% and 67% in America, according to Healthline.

Many people adopt the “dog parent” life and give up on families altogether. One study shows that 84 percent of “dog parents” think of their dog as their child. Kali Bauer is one example of a woman who settled down with her partner to lovingly raise a dog and two cats. She told Market Watch that “I’ve been called selfish a lot for choosing not to have kids, but to me, it would be more selfish having a kid that I don’t want,” and “[her dog] is as much part of her family as a human child would be.”

Market Watch and Bauer primarily blame the economy for the West’s population decline, but Baur betrays the fundamental reason why she and many others are not supporting life with her words, “I don’t want.” Today’s atomized culture praises selfishness, the same selfishness that enabled Ridgway to kill his own child.

Only a fundamental change of heart in society can stop the current culture of death, but thankfully, that change is slowly happening. Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, many states have taken great strides to protect life through abortion bans. Some states, like South Dakota, even have specific Down Syndrome abortion bans. A study conducted before the Dobbs decision found that states with 20-week abortion bans had a much higher rate of children with Down Syndrome carried to full term. Pro-life laws save lives, and if Americans continue to support more of them, unborn children with Down Syndrome may get to live the life Ridgway’s child never did.