A distinguished professor at the University of Oxford has apologized for his controversial remark that it was "immoral" to allow babies with Down syndrome to be born, the New York Daily News reported.
Richard Dawkins, a biologist and atheist, set fire to social media on Wednesday during a Twitter conversation with a woman who said she would have a "real ethical dilemma" if she became pregnant with a baby who had Down syndrome.
"Abort it and try again," Dawkins replied to the woman. "It would be immoral to bring it into the world if you have the choice."
Twitter erupted with thousands of users furious over the professor's comments. Some suggested Dawkins was promoting eugenics, a practice surrounding the genetic improvement of the human race.
"What do we do when we're all physically and mentally perfect? Congratulate ourselves on eradicating the need to help each other?" tweeted one user according to the BBC.
"I would fight till my last breath for the life of my son. No dilemma," tweeted a mother whose son has the genetic disorder.
Dawkins fiercely defended his "very civilized" views because "these are fetuses, diagnosed before they have human feelings," he tweeted.
But the professor, who once said being raped by a stranger is worse than date rape, slightly changed his tune in a Wednesday post on his blog saying he wasn't suggesting people with Down syndrome should not exist.
"I would never dream of saying to any person, 'you should have been aborted before you were born.' "
He also apologized to the woman he first directed his comments to.
"The choice would be entirely yours and I would never dream of trying to impose my views on you or anyone else.
"My phraseology may have been tactlessly vulnerable to misunderstanding, but I can't help feeling that at least half the problem lies in a wonton eagerness to misunderstand," Dawkins wrote.
