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Rick Santorum: Incompatible With Life? Some Children Die in Abortions, But Bella is Now Two
Life News ^ | 5/5/10 | Rick Santorum

Posted on 05/05/2010 4:19:22 PM PDT by wagglebee

LifeNews.com Note: Rick Santorum represented Pennsylvania as a member of the House and then the Senate. He was the sponsor of the partial-birth abortion ban and is widely considered one of the pro-life leaders in Congress during his tenure. He is a Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center.

"Incompatible with life." The doctor's words kept echoing in my head as I held my sobbing wife, Karen, just four days after the birth of our eighth child, Isabella Maria.

Bella was born with three No. 18 chromosomes, rather than the normal two. The statistics were heartbreaking: About 90 percent of children with the disorder, known as trisomy 18, die before or during birth, and 90 percent of those who survive die within the first year.

Bella was baptized that day, and then we spent every waking hour at her bedside, giving her a lifetime's worth of love and care. However, not only did she not die; she came home in just 10 days.

She was sent home on hospice care, strange as that sounded for a newborn. The hospice doctor visited us the next day and described in graphic detail how Bella would die. In sum, she could die at any time without warning, and the best we could hope for was that she would die of the common cold.

Karen and I discontinued hospice so that we and our amazing doctors, James Baugh and Sunil Kapoor, could get to work focusing on Bella's health, not her death.

Like so many moms of special kids, Karen is a warrior, caring for Bella night and day and, at times, fighting with health-care providers and our insurance company to get our daughter the care she needs.

Being the parent of a special child gives one exceptional insight into the negative perception of the disabled among many medical professionals, particularly when they see your child as having an intellectual disability. Sadly, we discovered that not only did we have to search for doctors who had experience with trisomy 18. We also had to search for those who saw Bella not as a fatal diagnosis, but as a wanted and loved daughter and sister, as well as a beautiful gift from God.

We knew from experience that Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was such a place. Fourteen years ago, we had another baby who was diagnosed as having no hope, but CHOP's Dr. Scott Adzick gave him a shot at life. In the end, we lost our son Gabriel, but we will always be grateful to Dr. Adzick for affirming the value of his life.

When Bella was 3 months old, she needed some minor but vital surgery. Some doctors told us that a child like Bella wouldn't survive surgery or, even worse, that surgery was "not recommended" because of her genetic condition - in other words, that her life wasn't worth saving. So we again turned to the Children's Hospital and found compassion, concern, and hope in Dr. Thane Blinman. He told us he had several trisomy 18 patients who did well - and so did Bella.

Next week, we will mark Bella's second birthday. Over these two years, we have endured two close brushes with death, lots of sleepless nights, more than a month in CHOP's intensive care unit, and the constant anxiety that the next day could be our little girl's last.

And yet we have also been inspired - by her fighting spirit, and by the miracle of seeing our little flower blossom into a loving, joyful child who is at the center of our family life.

Most children with trisomy 18 diagnosed in the womb are aborted. Most who survive birth are given hospice care until they die. In these cases, doctors advise parents that these disabled children will die young or be a burden to them and society. But couldn't the same be said of many healthy children?

All children are a gift that comes with no guarantees. While Bella's life may not be long, and though she requires our constant care, she is worth every tear.

Living with Bella has been a course in character and virtue. She makes us better. And it's not just our family; she enriches every life she touches. In the end, isn't that what every parent hopes for his or her child?

Happy birthday, Isabella!



TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: abortion; moralabsolutes; prolife; ricksantorum; trisomy18
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All children are a gift that comes with no guarantees. While Bella's life may not be long, and though she requires our constant care, she is worth every tear.

God Bless the Santorums!

1 posted on 05/05/2010 4:19:22 PM PDT by wagglebee
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To: cgk; Coleus; cpforlife.org; narses; Salvation; 8mmMauser

Pro-Life Ping


2 posted on 05/05/2010 4:20:08 PM PDT by wagglebee ("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)
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To: 185JHP; 230FMJ; Albion Wilde; Aleighanne; Alexander Rubin; An American In Dairyland; Antoninus; ...
Moral Absolutes Ping!

Freepmail wagglebee to subscribe or unsubscribe from the moral absolutes ping list.

FreeRepublic moral absolutes keyword search
[ Add keyword moral absolutes to flag FR articles to this ping list ]


3 posted on 05/05/2010 4:20:28 PM PDT by wagglebee ("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)
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To: wagglebee
in other words, that her life wasn't worth saving

How can that not bring tears to your eyes?

4 posted on 05/05/2010 4:24:11 PM PDT by Bahbah (Only dead fish go with the flow)
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To: wagglebee
God bless the Santorums and give them peace!!! I had no idea.

My situation isn't near as bad, but, I understand completely. I have a learning disabled daughter. Her life is worth just as much as anyone else's.

5 posted on 05/05/2010 4:24:11 PM PDT by MsLady (If you died tonight, where would you go? Salvation, don't leave earth without it!)
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To: wagglebee

Good morning coffee warmer-upper. Thanks for the post.


6 posted on 05/05/2010 4:27:48 PM PDT by lefty-lie-spy (Stay metal. For the Horde \m/("_")\m/ - via iPhone from Tokyo.)
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To: wagglebee

Some people come into the world just to teach us how to be more human.


7 posted on 05/05/2010 4:31:46 PM PDT by Slyfox
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To: Slyfox
One of my students told me something about 6 years ago and I have never forgotten it.

"I truly believe that the handicapped and mentally challenged people around us are all angels sent from heaven to help show us the way here on Earth."

8 posted on 05/05/2010 4:39:37 PM PDT by mware (F-R-E-E, that spells free, Free Republic.com baby.)
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To: wagglebee

Most children with trisomy 18 diagnosed in the womb are aborted. Most who survive birth are given hospice care until they die. In these cases, doctors advise parents that these disabled children will die young or be a burden to them and society. But couldn’t the same be said of many healthy children?

Most burdens to society ARE healthy children. God Bless the Santorums.


9 posted on 05/05/2010 4:45:31 PM PDT by originalbuckeye
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To: wagglebee

Happy Birthday Isabella!

Bless you and your family.


10 posted on 05/05/2010 4:51:27 PM PDT by Carley (WE CAN SEE NOVEMBER FROM OUR HOUSE)
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To: wagglebee

I know a lady online who’s Grand daughter has this too. She just turned 6 so it is possible that they live longer than some doctors will tell you they will. She’s had many close calls and colds send her to the hospital but she seems to have a very powerful will to live. God bless the Santoruims for giving their child the life all children deserve. Hopefully they will have their Bella for many more years.


11 posted on 05/05/2010 4:54:22 PM PDT by chris_bdba
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To: wagglebee

1 Peter 1:6-7 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

There is a lot of information on the web about Trisomy 18 and it is not for the faint of heart.

Eight child. God bless them.

It’s only our culture and society that assigns value to human life based on how long it is, or how perfect it is, or whatever shallow meaningless criteria it assigns to it.

We have somehow bought into the mentality that we are owed a long, trouble free, pain free life and that if we can’t have that, it’s not worth living, forgetting that this life is not what matters most, but the next one.

I honestly don’t think that God cares so much about how long or perfect our lives are as much as what He can do through them for the time we do have.


12 posted on 05/05/2010 4:55:24 PM PDT by metmom (Welfare was never meant to be a career choice.)
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To: Bahbah

I have no doubt that every word of this compelling story is true.

Don’t let it persuade you that Santorum is a striaight up guy. Not.


13 posted on 05/05/2010 4:58:08 PM PDT by HonestConservative (When Injustice becomes law, resistence becomes duty. Thomas Jefferson)
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To: wagglebee
While I by no means mean this to compare with the magnitude of Santorum's daughter, I have a parallel experience with my dog, Ranger. I was volunteering at an animal shelter here in Louisiana in the wake of Katrina. The whole animal rescue system was overloaded, and when Ranger was brought in, he was malnourished, heartworm and tapeworm infested, and had obviously been abused for some time prior to the storm, although we estimated he was only about 18 months old. The director of the shelter and our consulting vet had him lined up to be euthanized, believing that he was a "lost cause" and would never survive being treated for heartworms in his frail condition...and the kennel space was badly needed for other "more viable" abandoned dogs. I volunteered to foster him if the shelter would go ahead and initiate the medical protocols he needed.

He slowly but steadily improved, and five years later, is curled up at my feet as I type this. Even on my worst days, he's there to remind me what a gift and miracle life is, and how easily it can be taken away...


14 posted on 05/05/2010 5:06:45 PM PDT by Joe 6-pack (Que me amat, amet et canem meum)
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To: Joe 6-pack

He’s a beautiful dog!


15 posted on 05/05/2010 5:08:39 PM PDT by wagglebee ("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)
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To: Joe 6-pack

The dog looks great. God bless you.


16 posted on 05/05/2010 5:11:27 PM PDT by Czar (NRA Life Member)
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To: wagglebee

He’s accompanied me to a few pro-life events. He’s actually pretty instrumental in getting a lot of onlookers and passers-by engaged in conversation....:-)


17 posted on 05/05/2010 5:12:28 PM PDT by Joe 6-pack (Que me amat, amet et canem meum)
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To: tutstar

GniP


18 posted on 05/05/2010 5:29:44 PM PDT by Nightshift (Faith is something everyone has. The question is faith in what?)
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To: wagglebee

Great, now the screen is all blurry.

Thanks for posting.


19 posted on 05/05/2010 5:43:22 PM PDT by AuH2ORepublican (If a politician won't protect innocent babies, what makes you think that he'll protect your rights?)
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To: wagglebee

I didn’r know they were dealing with this after losing their baby son Gabriel to a birth defect...


20 posted on 05/05/2010 5:59:19 PM PDT by silverleaf
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