Article content

Prominent atheist Richard Dawkins triggered a wave of online backlash after telling a Twitter follower he would abort a fetus with Down syndrome “and try again.”

@InYourFaceNYer Abort it and try again. It would be immoral to bring it into the world if you have the choice. —

Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) August 20, 2014

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Richard Dawkins sparks outrage with claim that it's 'immoral' to not abort fetus with Down syndrome Back to video

“It would be immoral to bring it into the world if you have the choice,” he wrote, responding to the woman’s hypothetical question Wednesday.

In the ensuing 24 hours, Prof. Dawkins defended his position amid an onslaught of criticism that saw some accuse him of advocating eugenics.

The Canadian Down Syndrome Society said it was “appalled” by Dawkins tweets in a statement posted to its website.

“Down syndrome is not a disease, disorder, defect or medical condition,” the statement read.

“It is inappropriate and offensive to refer to people with Down syndrome as ‘afflicted with’ or ‘suffering from’ it. Down syndrome itself does not require either treatment or prevention.”

On Thursday, Prof. Dawkins apologized for creating the “feeding frenzy,” offeringa longer explanation of his stance — unconfined to 140 characters.

“What I was saying simply follows logically from the ordinary pro-choice stance that most us, I presume, espouse,” he wrote on his website. “My phraseology may have been tactlessly vulnerable to misunderstanding, but I can’t help feeling that at least half the problem lies in a wanton eagerness to misunderstand.”

The scientist and author is frequently dogged by impassioned responses to his online posts. As recently as last month, Dawkins disturbed anti-child abuse advocates with a series of Tweets, one of which read: “Mild pedophilia is bad. Violent pedophilia is worse. If you think that’s an endorsement of mild pedophilia, go away and learn how to think.”