(LifeSiteNews) — YouTuber Jesse Ridgway continues to make inflammatory comments in the face of ongoing backlash for announcing the abortion of his child over a prenatal Down syndrome diagnosis, while a new video sheds light on how long he has looked down on those with the genetic condition.
Ridgeway, whose popular McJuggerNuggets channel boasts “Hilarious Skits, Awesome Web Series’, and Crazy Family Vlogs,” announced on June 3 that he and his wife researched Down syndrome and decided that it would be best for both the child and for his family if the baby was killed in the womb, rationalizing his decision in part on the claim that more than 90 percent of children diagnosed with Down syndrome are aborted.
“We made a difficult decision that we believe in the long-run will be beneficial for our family. Thankfully, we had a choice,” he 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.”
The post went viral, eliciting thousands of replies, many expressing horror, disgust, and personal testimonies ranging from miscarriage accounts to stories of choosing life for Down syndrome children and attesting to their rights, value, prognosis, and dignity. He doubled down, attempting to cast himself and his wife as the real victims of the story, further inflaming tensions. Since then he has continued to argue with critics, at one point making the shocking declaration, “of course I’m glad my dad didn’t f***ing terminate me, but I’m normal.”
In another video this week, Ridgway responded to threats and/or warnings that he’s received of eternal damnation by suggesting divine judgment has no power over him simply because he’s an atheist.
Jesse Ridgway calls out Christians for criticizing him after he aborted his baby for having Down Syndrome.
He says he can’t go to Hell because he doesn’t believe in it.
“People saying, ‘Go to Hell.’ It doesn’t matter because I can’t go there. I don’t believe in it.” pic.twitter.com/PW21MqjtcE
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) June 10, 2026
“Like, a lot of the pro-life people are wishing death upon me and my wife, which is hypocritical. And a lot of them use God and Jesus as their weapon and their justification, but like, it doesn’t matter to me because I’m not religious,” he said. “I don’t believe in God, I don’t believe in the Bible, like I haven’t since I was eight years old, and then I learned science and I was like ‘oh that makes more sense.’”
“But I don’t judge people for believing in it. I think that’s great. If that’s how you want to frame your life and your decisions, more power to you. When you start to use it as a weapon, then it becomes problematic. People saying ‘go to hell,’ like, doesn’t matter because I can’t go there,” he added. “I don’t believe in it, and I just can’t imagine I’ll be ending up in a human personified place that has fire and brimstone and a man with a pitchfork, like, I just don’t buy it.”
Ridgway’s rationale displays secular tropes that religious thinkers have been answering for centuries, such as the false assumption that faith and science are incompatible (countless scientists, including such figures as Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein, have had widely varying views on the specifics of theology but agreed that the natural laws of the universe pointed to the existence of a higher power who authored those laws).
More significantly, Ridgway’s confidence that he need not fear hell simply because he does not believe it exists is a deeply perilous assumption, as illustrated by French philosopher Blaise Pascal famous “wager” on the subject, which highlights that God’s existence doesn’t depend on a person’s subjective beliefs in Him, and, therefore, betting that He does not – and living one’s life accordingly – is infinitely riskier than the alternative.
The rejection of any belief that life holds divine value appears to have shaped Ridgway’s behavior longer than previously known. On Wednesday, TMZ reported on a skit that he performed in a nine-year-old video, in which his character alternates between different personalities, one of whom has Down syndrome.
“Ridgway employs a stereotypical voice and adds mannerisms often used by people mocking those with special needs,” TMZ describes. “He’s only in the guise for about a minute of the overall runtime before he crashes through a mirror and seems to regain his original personality.”
“I play a character name[d] Isaac Kalder who has hijacked Jesse Ridgway’s life,” Ridgway said in defense of the skit. “My family is pissed so they hold me at gunpoint and force me to switch chars rapidly. The identity switches happen too fast and it fries my brain.”
Down syndrome, or Trisomy 21, is a genetic disorder typically associated with physical growth delays, distinct facial traits, and often intellectual disability. Despite these challenges, a 2011 study published in the American Journal of Medical Genetics found that 99 percent of people with Down syndrome described themselves as “happy,” and only four percent of parents with Down children expressed regret about having their child.
Prominent individuals with Down syndrome, such as snow cone business owner Blake Pyron, writer John Franklin Stephens, and advocate Charlotte Fien serve as examples of their community. Yet around the world, Down syndrome is seen as a justification for aborting preborn children.
The pro-life Charlotte Lozier Institute has estimated that abortion reduces the U.S. Down community by 30 percent. Overseas, it’s been estimated that 90 percent of babies in Great Britain to receive a Down syndrome diagnosis are aborted, 65 percent in Norway, virtually 100 percent in Iceland, and 95 percent in Spain.
More information about the myths and facts pertaining to Trisomy 21 can be found at the National Down Syndrome Society’s website.
