I was a daily reader of CAD at the time and I thought the reaction was disproportionate, but none of my partners have ever had a miscarriage during the time I was with them, as far as I know. (I cannot have a miscarriage myself.) There were some reactions that just seemed “mean”, but some people that had experienced a miscarriage (or a partner’s miscarriage) felt attacked/wronged by the comic for various reasons. I personally thought it was creative, tho it was not the tone I was expecting.

I think we mostly still don’t really know what makes things “go viral”, so I’m really not sure why it did, though I think most of the “meme-abilty” has to do with how “recognizable” the minimalist takes make it. Ex: :.|:;