The Sympathy of Rick Santorum

Rick Santorum, former Republican Senator from Pennsylvania and current candidate for the GOP presidential nomination, wants every woman in America to be prohibited from getting an abortion even in cases of rape, incest, or the health of the mother is at stake. In short, he'd rather the mother die than abort her baby under any circumstances. He also thinks abortion providers (doctors, nurses, etc.) should be treated as criminals, murderers.

Got that? Now check this out:

In the 19th week of her pregnancy, [Santorum's wife] Karen discovered during a routine exam that the fetus she was carrying had a fatal defect and was going to die inside of her. A long-shot surgery was performed that required cutting directly into the womb. It carried a high risk of infection and was performed not to save the fetus, but to reduce Karen’s complications while she attempted to go full term.

Two days later, she became severely feverish. She was rushed to the hospital and placed on intravenous antibiotics, which reduced her fever and bought her some time, but could not eliminate the source of infection: the fetus.

Karen was going to die if her pregnancy was not ended, if the fetus was not removed from her body. So, at 20 weeks, one month before what doctors consider ‘viability’, labor was artificially induced and the infected fetus was delivered. It died shortly thereafter.

Here's the kicker, though:

As her fever subsided, she realized what was happening and asked for drugs to stop the labor, saying, “We’re not inducing labor. That’s abortion. No way.” But it was too late.

Obviously, a horrible and tragic thing happened here. Lisa and I have been there twice, although much earlier than 20 weeks. So I can relate to whatever pain and loss they surely must have felt.

But thankfully, her abortion was safe and legal, and thankfully, she had a choice whether or not to save herself or die with her baby. The real Rick Santorum is also very thankful that his wife didn't die, and in his own heart he has reconciled himself to this horrible decision to let the baby die rather than let it kill his wife, so that their other children would still have a mother.

But candidate Rick Santorum, had it been possible for him to be there at the crucial moment, would have reminded the real Rick Santorum and his wife that Karen needed to carry that baby and never abort it, even if it meant her own life would be sacrificed, in keeping with his "pro-life" platform.

Had Karen Santorum not been delirious with fever, who knows? Maybe widower Rick would be texting pictures of his cock to porn stars too.