Influencer Jesse Ridgway has spoken out after allegedly receiving “death threats” over his wife Ashley Ridgway’s decision to terminate her pregnancy.
“I’ve never seen such hate and vitriol for two people grieving the loss of their unborn child and making an impossible decision,” Jesse, 33, wrote via his Instagram Stories on Thursday, June 4. “The last 24 hours have exposed a side of humanity that is deeply disturbing. Being called ‘murderous pieces of s***, evil and compared to Hitler’ and receiving nonstop death threats.”
Ashley, 31, announced in March that she was pregnant with the couple’s first baby, one month before revealing that the fetus was diagnosed with Down syndrome. Jesse revealed on Wednesday, June 3, that his wife recently “made the very difficult decision to terminate the pregnancy” over future health concerns.
“Seeing my 6-year-old dog with stage IV kidney disease be used as a weapon, manipulating my words and intent in a tweet or saying will regret this decision forever and must repent to God is absolute insanity,” Jesse alleged on Thursday, detailing the online comments he’s received over the backlash. “If you ever wanted to marvel at the depravity of people online, just check the replies on my latest tweet, It’s a s***show of epic proportions.”
He continued, “What’s more troubling is a lot of these people use God or Jesus as their justification for threatening us and wanting to cast us into hell … seems pretty hypocritical. So many saying they would’ve kept the child, put it up for adoption or are suddenly ready to adopt a Down syndrome child, that’s great! You can do all those things.”
Jesse further noted that many critics “throwing stones” don’t have children of their own or “likely will never do the things they say they’re going to do.”
“There has been some heinous s*** said about my wife and I on some extremely large accounts. It baffles me that there are such trashy-ass people who have significant followings,” he added. “If you can’t contribute anything meaningful to the conversation aside from insults, then just don’t post.”
Jesse stressed that he and Ashley made their own decision, which might be different from other individuals in similar situations.
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“There have been tremendous stories of people who kept their Down syndrome baby and that’s awesome! Very courageous, and they do look very happy. That is your choice and I support it,” he stated. “This was ours and we can do that. It’s very easy to accept the differences between us when it has no actual bearing on your life.”
According to Jesse, he hopes that Ashley’s story inspires other social media users to “open up more” so “we can all find understanding.”
“Thank you to everyone who has been supportive during this difficult time and defending our choice as parents,” he concluded. “Also, my wife is a bad-ass. Not only did she go through this trauma, but she’s dealing with all the freaks on the internet in stride. Love you, babe. Let’s look to the future!”
