Armed guards escorted a pregnant woman along with her husband and two children to prevent her from boarding a Disney Cruise Line ship.
Her offense? Being too pregnant. That sounds awful.
Consider Disney’s reasons first.
The woman is part of a family of viral vloggers called The Jackson Hive and they posted a series of videos about the incident on YouTube.
In the video, an armed guard tells the woman to “wait outside. Step outside” and they were led to a door.
Ultimately, the family was not allowed to board the ship, which was docked in Miami, because the mom was too far along in her pregnancy.
Were the AR-15s necessary?
The mom, Emily Jackson, 22, told TV station KMOV that she was 25 weeks pregnant, which was one week past the cruise line’s boarding policy. Still, Jackson told the TV station, her treatment by guards at the port was appalling.
“I’m mad because of how they treated me and my children … The fact that they felt they needed AR-15s to escort us out.”
The armed guards are not affiliated with the Disney Cruise Line but are with the Miami-Dade Police Department.
Disney defends its decision
The cruise line states on its website that women who have entered their 24th week of pregnancy or who will enter their 24th week of pregnancy during the cruise will be “refused passage due to safety concerns.”
So the company has a policy about boarding a cruise ship while pregnant and it’s firm that “neither a doctor’s medical statement nor a waiver of liability will be accepted.”
According to Newsweek, a spokesperson for Disney Cruise Line said the family was issued a refund for their tickets and told the publication:
“While we understand the guests’ disappointment with not being able to board the ship, for health and safety reasons, our policy does not allow women who have reached the 24th week of pregnancy to travel, which is consistent, with our cruise lines and it is noted on our website and in our travel documents our guests receive before sailing.”
