Michael Hugo served as chairman of the Framingham Democratic Committee until late last week, when he stepped down under pressure after suggesting children born with disabilities siphon money from the public schools for their special education classes.
Back in February, at a city council meeting, Hugo appeared before city leaders to urge them to pass a proclamation opposing pro-life pregnancy centers from opening in the city.
“Our fear is that if an unqualified sonographer misdiagnoses a heart defect, an organ defect, spina bifida,” he reasoned, “that becomes a very local issue because our school budget will have to absorb the cost of a child in special education, supplying lots and lots of special services to children, who were born with the defect.”
Even though that view is likely shared by many abortion supporters, it proved too much for some Democrats, including the president of the Massachusetts State Senate, Karen Spilka. Hugo’s comment hit home with her because Spilka is legal guardian of a sister with Down Syndrome, so the top Democrat publicly called for Hugo to step down for his “totally unacceptable” comment.
According to a LifeNews.com article, Hugo did not step down quietly and the issue dragged on for weeks.
After a local newspaper reported on Hugo's city council comments, after he had asked it to drop the story, Hugo ignored the public’s reaction for 10 days until he issued a half-hearted apology. He also claimed he had made off-the-cuff comments about school funding but that proved to be untrue because he had already emailed similar comments to city council members before the meeting.
Even when he resigned, Hugo played the victim and questioned why the issue had made national news.
Kristi Hamrick of Students for Life tells AFN it was satisfying to watch Hugo finally be forced to step down.
“It was an offensive thing all around,” she says, “that some children shouldn't be born, that some children don't deserve an education, and that some children aren't worth the effort.”
