In a weekend interview, Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum bashed pro-abortion President Barack Obama not just on the issue of abortion — he went further and says Obama is exacerbating the number of abortions on disabled babies.
Appearing on “Face the Nation” on CBS, Santorum said Obama is essentially pushing abortions on babies diagnosed before birth with conditions like Down syndrome by pushing for free prenatal tests during pregnancy.
“I have a child that has Trisomy 18. Almost 100 percent of Trisomy 18 children are encouraged to be aborted, so I know what I’m talking about here,” Santorum said. While he affirmed that mother’s have a right to have a test if they want one, he said, “but to have the government force people to provide it free just . . . is a bit loaded.”
“Amniocentesis does, in fact, result more often than not in this country in abortions,” Santorum said. “That is a fact.”
“The bottom line is that a lot of prenatal tests are done to identify deformities in utero and the customary procedure is to encourage abortion,” he said. Santorum said he is concerned because “because free prenatal testing ends up in more abortions and therefore less care that has to be done because we cull the ranks of the disabled in our society.”
“That, too, is part of Obamacare, another hidden message as to what President Obama thinks of those who are less able than the elites who want to govern our country,” Santorum said.
CBS host Bob Schieffer asked Santorum if Obama “looked down” on people with disabilities.
“Well, the president supported partial-birth abortion, and partial-birth abortion is a procedure used almost exclusively to kill children late in pregnancy when they’ve been found out to be disabled,” Santorum said. “I think the president has a very bad record on the issue of abortion and children who are disabled who are in the womb, and I think this simply is a continuation of that idea.”
Santorum’s daughter Bella has Edwards Syndrome or Trisomy 18, a chromosomal condition which results in stillbirth 50 percent of the time. She was recently hospitalized but improved.
Karen Santorum, wife of Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum, recently talked with voters about the eugenic push for abortions on babies who are diagnosed with certain disabilities before birth. [related]
“But it is interesting how they categorize certain diagnosis. And what we got alot — which it sounds like you did – was ‘lethal diagnosis incompatible with life.’ They really have to stop using those words. Because when they do it leads to lethal outcomes. And we have found that,” she told the voter. “I’m really on a mission now to really help change the wording and how they present the diagnoses to parents.”
Santorum talks about her daughter Bella, who has Edwards Syndrome, later in the video.
“We got the diagnosis on our little girl Bella four days after her birth. It was a really hard time. You know, we weren’t expecting it and so it was really hard,” she says. “We had lost a baby so that’s all I can think about was ‘I can’t go through this again.’ i was very angry and went into a deep dark hole for 10 days when she was the in the NICU, I must admit,” Santorum continues. “I was never going to leave my faith, I love the Lord, I was praying and I kept asking why. I couldn’t understand.”
Eventually she said she came to realize that “God is in child and this beautiful child is here for a purpose.”
“We said right from the get go that Bella was a part of her family and we would love her and care for her” in the same way she and Rick care for their other children. “You know the pain and what a challenge it can be, but we’re a very close family and we came together.”
Rick Santorum previously talked about his daughter in a campaign commercial released before the Iowa caucus vote.
“During the last debate I mentioned how I was looking forward to taking the red-eye home to see my three year old daughter Bella, who had surgery earlier that day,” the Republican presidential candidate said. “Following that debate, Karen and I got numerous emails and calls from supporters asking how she was doing. We were so touched by the tremendous outpouring of support, the thoughts and the prayers we received for our sweet Bella.”
“She is doing great and back to her joyful, smiley self. But since so many people were concerned, we wanted to share a little bit more about Bella and the great blessing she is for our entire family,” he said. “We hope you’ll enjoy this video.”
Santorum recently talked about Bella in a speech at a Pennsylvania pro-life event. Santorum recalled the crisis of faith he experienced when his wife Karen went to get an ultrasound of their unborn baby Gabriel.
The doctor told the couple, “Your son has a fatal defect and is going to die.” But Gabriel was born alive. As Santorum recalls, “For two hours he lived a life that knew only love.”
The couple’s heartbreaking experience with infant loss became the subject of Karen’s book, Letters to Gabriel, which has helped countless mothers deal with the deaths of their newborn babies.
Santorum faced another crisis when his daughter, Bella, was diagnosed with Trisomy 18, a chromosomal condition which results in stillbirth 50 percent of the time. At first, Santorum was emotionally detached from his disabled daughter but, when she faced her own battle for life, he suddenly realized, “This child…can do nothing but love me.”
Santorum observed, “That’s me with the (Heavenly) Father—I am so profoundly disabled in His eyes.”
Against all odds, little Bella recently celebrated her 182nd week of life. According to Santorum, the one-year survival rate for Trisomy 18 is 1 percent.
As Santorum told the Pennsylvania crowd of 500 pro-lifers, “These children have so much to teach us.”
