Mom Sees Daughter's Photo Used to Promote Abortion. Mom Shocked by Twitter's Response
Most parents would be concerned if they saw photos of their child or children floating around the web if they weren’t made public. Once you post something, it becomes fair game to plenty of people.
But when a photo is used to make fun of your child or suggest that they are a perfect example of when you should choose abortion — hell hath no fury like a mother on the path of justice.
Natalie Weaver has a 9-year-old daughter named Sophia. Sophia has a rare neurological condition known as Rett Syndrome, which affects her ability to breathe, eat, walk, speak, and more — basically all the things we take for granted every single day.
Sophia also has facial differences, which have attracted the most negativity. After experiencing many cruel comments and reactions, Natalie kept her out of the public eye for seven years, unwilling to invite more pain, ridicule, and unwelcome commentary.
But she has been strong for her daughter, and for others with similar conditions, and has begun speaking on their behalf: advocating for those who cannot advocate for themselves.
Of course, making her case public meant she was opening herself up to that same negativity, but on a more global level. It required strength and resolve to face the naysayers, but the goal is commendable.
One day, Natalie found that an image of her daughter was being circulated — but not to raise awareness of her condition or reach others who might be struggling as well. No, this image was being used to promote abortion, using the photo of this little girl as “evidence.”
Apparently, a Twitter user had gotten a hold of the image and tweeted it, and allegedly wrote, “It is okay to think that every child matters however a lot of them do not hence the amnio test.”
This was a slap in the face, especially because Natalie had fought for her daughter since day one. She had made a conscious decision to make life the best she could for her daughter, and here was someone not only questioning her decision, but downright saying that they made the wrong choice.
That wasn’t all, though. The poster wasn’t done yet, and gave more unasked-for advice.
“(It) should be a mandatory test and if it proves negative and the woman does not want to abort then all bills accrued after that is on her and the father.”
Weaver was understandably upset that someone would use a photo of her child in such a demeaning way. She had to do something: “I decided enough was enough. He is not using my daughter’s image in that hateful way.”
She contacted Twitter, but after her first attempt to have the photo taken down, Twitter said the user was within his rights. Fortunately, as more time passed and more people reported the Tweet, Twitter reviewed the post again and had it removed.
It was during this time, though, that users realized while using the reporting function, that even though Twitter offered several options for why a post was being reported, “hate against people with disabilities” was not on the list.
That needed to be changed.
Natalie posted that she was unhappy with the political spin many media sites had put on her story, when she only had two universally acceptable goals: first, to “Get the pro-eugenics creep who was using Sophias image suspended,” and second, to “Get twitter to include disabilities in their violation reporting.”
She has certainly gotten people’s (and Twitter’s) attention, and we hope that she is successful in both of those endeavors. It looks like, so far, she has been at least partially successful.
Natalie is all the things we could want in a friend or a mother: she is kind, caring, willing to stand for what is right, and is doing her part to make this world a better place to live.
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