Richard Dawkins says women should ‘abort it and try again’ if fetus has Down syndrome

He’s done it again.

British evolutionary biologist, atheist and provocateur Richard Dawkins has ignited another firestorm on Twitter after expressing his views about what a woman should do if told her fetus has Down syndrome. 

It was only a few weeks ago that “The God Delusion” author sparked a savage backlash for tweeting “Date rape is bad. Stranger rape at knifepoint is worse,” while illustrating an argument about logical reasoning.    

This latest cyber slanging match started when Dawkins posted a link to a story about the plight of women in Ireland where abortion is largely illegal, even in the case of rape, incest or fetal deformity.

It provoked a strong reaction from Twitter users and Dawkins responded in his characteristically insensitive style. 

Then a woman using the Twitter handle @InYourFaceNYer joined the conversation, saying she would have a “real ethical dilemma” if she found out her baby had Down syndrome.

Dawkins clearly would have no such qualms and told her what she should do. 

The woman should “abort it and try again," Dawkins tweeted back. He went even further, saying it would be “immoral” for a woman to carry on with a pregnancy under such circumstances.

Not surprisingly, Dawkins' response triggered a barrage of angry tweets.

True to form, the thick-skinned Dawkins went on the defensive. 

But Dawkins found some support among followers who either share his views or love his no-holds-barred approach.

Not that upsetting some of his one million followers on Twitter bothers Dawkins one little bit. He later issued an apology of sorts on his blog for "letting slip the dogs of Twitterwar," but didn't retreat from his views, not by an inch. 

Noooo, Dawkins simply elaborated his argument that had been restricted by the 140-character limit on Twitter.  

“… what I was saying simply follows logically from the ordinary pro-choice stance that most us, I presume, espouse. 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.”

Dawkins is no stranger to controversy. In fact, as his Twitter account shows, he actively courts it.

Last month he found himself in the middle of a social media uproar after he differentiated between “date rape” and “stranger rape” and “mild pedophilia” and “violent pedophilia.”  

The conversation started with this post about the Palestine-Israel conflict and evolved into a brain-twisting discussion about logical reasoning.

To illustrate his point, Dawkins used the aforementioned crimes of rape and pedophilia. 

Naturally, this upset many social media users, particularly women.  

But it's the kind of thing we've come to expect from a man who has turned insulting entire segments of the population into something of a sport.

Remember this tweet about Muslims?

Oh, and the time he encouraged his followers to "mock" and "ridicule" religious people?