Slog
News & ArtsTuesday, June 14, 2011
2012 / Politics / Sex Rick Santorum Thinks Abortion Should Be Safe and Legal—But Only When His Wife Needs One
Posted by Dan Savage on Tue, Jun 14, 2011 at 10:02 AM
A must-read post.
UPDATE: I've been reading the post's sources and cites... and there's nothing I can find in them that corroborates the labor-was-induced aspect of the story. So I'm disabling the link. My apologies.
2
I can't find any solid attribution for the last paragraph ("I don't even know your wife's name"), but other than that, this needs to be read. I just think the last part is a little too over-the-top-- if someone can find a link to Santorum actually saying this (that doesn't reference back to this Tumblr post), that would be great.
3
Praise for the activists who shadow him (accompanied by a rolling camera, of course) with signs saying, "Rick Santorum's wife had an abortion."
4
I just struck me, how you not only ruined good ol' Rick's name but everyone from here on in, forevermore, who carries his name
5
Just when you think you've become accustomed to the level of hypocrisy people are capable of, someone like Rick comes along and blows you out of the water.
7
Actually, the only neutral link provided (to the New Yorker abstract) says that Karen Santorum "went into premature labor," not that she was induced. That needs to be clarified, or this whole thing falls apart.
8
well, from what I hear they took the aborted fetus home & had the children pass it around & pray over it. so it's all good.
9
Taking Santorum's view that it is a child, a human life, is the medical ethics different from having conjoined twins, both doomed to perish unless one is separated from the other?
Is there any controversy about that calculation of human life (as challenging as it might be) to let one child die to give the other a chance at life?
Is there any controversy about that calculation of human life (as challenging as it might be) to let one child die to give the other a chance at life?
10
If this is true, it's pretty damaging. But I could just as easily post an article about Dan Savage having an abortion.
11
That last paragraph makes me think the whole post is in the vein of Slog's "Rob McKenna is a Transgender Activist" post, aka complete shit.
Which is too bad, because if that is what happened, the hypocrisy is astounding.
Which is too bad, because if that is what happened, the hypocrisy is astounding.
12
That story left out the really creepy part about the Santorum's Abortion. After the abortion, they brought the dead fetus home with them, cuddled and kissed him, dressed him up, and took family pictures with the dead fetus and what would have been his siblings.
Its true! http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/art…
Its true! http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/art…
13
This article seems like it's largely making things up based around a couple of things that actually happened
14
If you read the New Yorker article this article references, the Santorums did not, in fact, have an abortion, she gave birth to the baby who then died. In the article, Rick is quoted as saying that in the vast majority of cases where the mother's life is in danger, that chemically-induced labor is preferable to abortion.
As for taking the baby home, while it seems creepy, I understand the need to mourn a lost child. The same thing happened to a cousin and they had a funeral as well.
As for taking the baby home, while it seems creepy, I understand the need to mourn a lost child. The same thing happened to a cousin and they had a funeral as well.
15
None of the information in this is new (at all), the only difference is that the fact that they didn't stop the premature labor is called "an abortion" - which it is absolutely not, even less a "partial birth" abortion.
I don't like Santorum, I think his position on reproductive rights is evil and dangerous, but that post is both vile and, at best, distorting the truth.
I don't like Santorum, I think his position on reproductive rights is evil and dangerous, but that post is both vile and, at best, distorting the truth.
17
#9: There's absolutely no logic to anti-abortion. There are a bajillion examples of logical inconsistencies - half of all conceptions result in spontaneous abortion, sex during menopause often results in conception but not implantation, IVF causes several conceptions for every pregnancy, hormonal birth control often causes conception but not implantation...
If anti-abortion was about anything other than controlling uppity women, they'd be fighting the largest causes of abortion above, not the tiny fraction of medical abortions.
If anti-abortion was about anything other than controlling uppity women, they'd be fighting the largest causes of abortion above, not the tiny fraction of medical abortions.
18
Usually, at any reference to little Ricky, I click on www.spreadingsantorum.com and it helps keep my blood pressure down.
But this...
But this...
20
The author completely lost me after I read this:
"As a Republican, he loves rich people, white people, business people, and Christians. The real Americans, he calls them."
Oh for fuck sakes, can we save the generalizations and name calling? I am decidely not a Republican but not all Rebuplicans are evil conspiring racists.
"As a Republican, he loves rich people, white people, business people, and Christians. The real Americans, he calls them."
Oh for fuck sakes, can we save the generalizations and name calling? I am decidely not a Republican but not all Rebuplicans are evil conspiring racists.
24
Not that I'm out to support Santorum, but taking family photographs with dead children actually has a precedent in art history. Photographing dead children with their surviving siblings or parents was pretty common throughout the late Victorian era. Even creepier, these children are frequently posed to look like they're merely sleeping and a lot of the time, you can't really tell the difference!
25
wow a santorium post from the stranger's shittiest writer where i don't have to tell him (a 45 year old parent) to grow up
grats, are you growing up a little?
grats, are you growing up a little?
28
The story I found said that no, they did not induce labor even when the doctor suggested it, but that Rick, personally, okayed the idea, and that his wife did, too:
http://articles.philly.com/1997-05-04/ne…
``The doctors said they were talking about a matter of hours or a day or two before risking sepsis and both of them might die,'' Santorum said. ``Obviously, if it was a choice of whether both Karen and the child are going to die or just the child is going to die, I mean it's a pretty easy call.''
AND
"Karen, a soft-spoken red-haired 37-year-old, said that ``ultimately'' she would have agreed to intervention for the sake of her other children.
``If the physician came to me and said if we don't deliver your baby in one hour you will be dead, yeah, I would have to do it,'' she said. ``But for me, it was at the very end. I would never make a decision like that until all other means had been thoroughly exhausted.''"
IOW, they are as much hypocrites as if they had had the procedure.
http://articles.philly.com/1997-05-04/ne…
``The doctors said they were talking about a matter of hours or a day or two before risking sepsis and both of them might die,'' Santorum said. ``Obviously, if it was a choice of whether both Karen and the child are going to die or just the child is going to die, I mean it's a pretty easy call.''
AND
"Karen, a soft-spoken red-haired 37-year-old, said that ``ultimately'' she would have agreed to intervention for the sake of her other children.
``If the physician came to me and said if we don't deliver your baby in one hour you will be dead, yeah, I would have to do it,'' she said. ``But for me, it was at the very end. I would never make a decision like that until all other means had been thoroughly exhausted.''"
IOW, they are as much hypocrites as if they had had the procedure.
29
I brought this up here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fixing-San…
and then went back and corrected myself. Because I'm a liberal. And liberals admit that when circumstances or facts change, they have the ability to change their opinions.
oh, and by the way, y'all should click on the link and take a look :)
and then went back and corrected myself. Because I'm a liberal. And liberals admit that when circumstances or facts change, they have the ability to change their opinions.
oh, and by the way, y'all should click on the link and take a look :)
30
Here's where the quote originally came from.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/se…
Michael Kindt, an editorialist at Cagle.com, had written this.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Abortion in any form is wrong," said Santorum in 2000, three years after the tragedy. He should have added, “Except for my wife. If your wife’s life was at stake and the only thing that could save her..."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/se…
Michael Kindt, an editorialist at Cagle.com, had written this.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Abortion in any form is wrong," said Santorum in 2000, three years after the tragedy. He should have added, “Except for my wife. If your wife’s life was at stake and the only thing that could save her..."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
31
Although It looks like Kindt is on Twitter now pointing to his original version of that article (where it's *not* 100% clear that he made up the Santorum quote.)
http://early-onset-of-night.tumblr.com/p…
Someone should ask Kindt for his version of what's going on here...
http://early-onset-of-night.tumblr.com/p…
Someone should ask Kindt for his version of what's going on here...
32
Perhaps these quotes will make this clear as mud:
Philadelphia Inquiror 1997: “The Santorums, according to an account written by the senator for today's Commentary Page in The Inquirer, struggled mightily to avoid the abortion option. Ultimately, they did not have to make a decision; nature made it for them. Karen went into premature labor from an infection, delivering a boy who had a fatal abnormality. The child died two hours later. In an interview, the Santorums said they would have authorized an abortion had there been no other choice. ‘If that had to be the call, we would have induced labor if we had to,’ the senator said as he sat in his Washington office. ‘I consider it a blessing that we didn't have to make that decision.’ ... Santorum opposes abortion ‘except in the cases of rape, incest or [to save] the life of the mother.’”
New York Times 2005: “The childbirth in 1996 was a source of terrible heartbreak -- the couple were told by doctors early in the pregnancy that the baby Karen was carrying had a fatal defect and would survive only for a short time outside the womb. According to Karen Santorum's [1998] book Letters to Gabriel: The True Story of Gabriel Michael Santorum she later developed a life-threatening intrauterine infection and a fever that reached nearly 105 degrees. She went into labor when she was 20 weeks pregnant. After resisting at first, she allowed doctors to give her the drug Pitocin [oxytocin] to speed the birth. Gabriel lived just two hours.
The Week, June 13, 2011: “Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum put his conservative credentials on display during a Sunday appearance on NBC's Meet the Press, out-hardlining many of his rivals by restating his long-held belief that abortion should be banned, even in cases of rape and incest. The former Pennsylvania senator also said that doctors who perform abortions should face criminal charges. ‘I believe that life should be protected at the moment it is a human life,’ Santorum said. ‘And at conception it is biologically human, and it's alive... it should be a person under the Constitution.’"
More...
Philadelphia Inquiror 1997: “The Santorums, according to an account written by the senator for today's Commentary Page in The Inquirer, struggled mightily to avoid the abortion option. Ultimately, they did not have to make a decision; nature made it for them. Karen went into premature labor from an infection, delivering a boy who had a fatal abnormality. The child died two hours later. In an interview, the Santorums said they would have authorized an abortion had there been no other choice. ‘If that had to be the call, we would have induced labor if we had to,’ the senator said as he sat in his Washington office. ‘I consider it a blessing that we didn't have to make that decision.’ ... Santorum opposes abortion ‘except in the cases of rape, incest or [to save] the life of the mother.’”
New York Times 2005: “The childbirth in 1996 was a source of terrible heartbreak -- the couple were told by doctors early in the pregnancy that the baby Karen was carrying had a fatal defect and would survive only for a short time outside the womb. According to Karen Santorum's [1998] book Letters to Gabriel: The True Story of Gabriel Michael Santorum she later developed a life-threatening intrauterine infection and a fever that reached nearly 105 degrees. She went into labor when she was 20 weeks pregnant. After resisting at first, she allowed doctors to give her the drug Pitocin [oxytocin] to speed the birth. Gabriel lived just two hours.
The Week, June 13, 2011: “Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum put his conservative credentials on display during a Sunday appearance on NBC's Meet the Press, out-hardlining many of his rivals by restating his long-held belief that abortion should be banned, even in cases of rape and incest. The former Pennsylvania senator also said that doctors who perform abortions should face criminal charges. ‘I believe that life should be protected at the moment it is a human life,’ Santorum said. ‘And at conception it is biologically human, and it's alive... it should be a person under the Constitution.’"
33
Philadelphia Inquiror 1997: “The Santorums, according to an account written by the senator for today's Commentary Page in The Inquirer, struggled mightily to avoid the abortion option. Ultimately, they did not have to make a decision; nature made it for them. Karen went into premature labor from an infection, delivering a boy who had a fatal abnormality. The child died two hours later. In an interview, the Santorums said they would have authorized an abortion had there been no other choice. ‘If that had to be the call, we would have induced labor if we had to,’ the senator said as he sat in his Washington office. ‘I consider it a blessing that we didn't have to make that decision.’ ... Santorum opposes abortion ‘except in the cases of rape, incest or [to save] the life of the mother.’”
New York Times 2005: “The childbirth in 1996 was a source of terrible heartbreak -- the couple were told by doctors early in the pregnancy that the baby Karen was carrying had a fatal defect and would survive only for a short time outside the womb. According to Karen Santorum's [1998] book Letters to Gabriel: The True Story of Gabriel Michael Santorum she later developed a life-threatening intrauterine infection and a fever that reached nearly 105 degrees. She went into labor when she was 20 weeks pregnant. After resisting at first, she allowed doctors to give her the drug Pitocin [aka oxytocin, hormone/drug used to induce labor, though in this case to encourage labor already started] to speed the birth. Gabriel lived just two hours.
The Week, June 13, 2011: “Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum put his conservative credentials on display during a Sunday appearance on NBC's Meet the Press, out-hardlining many of his rivals by restating his long-held belief that abortion should be banned, even in cases of rape and incest. The former Pennsylvania senator also said that doctors who perform abortions should face criminal charges. ‘I believe that life should be protected at the moment it is a human life,’ Santorum said. ‘And at conception it is biologically human, and it's alive... it should be a person under the Constitution.’"
More...
New York Times 2005: “The childbirth in 1996 was a source of terrible heartbreak -- the couple were told by doctors early in the pregnancy that the baby Karen was carrying had a fatal defect and would survive only for a short time outside the womb. According to Karen Santorum's [1998] book Letters to Gabriel: The True Story of Gabriel Michael Santorum she later developed a life-threatening intrauterine infection and a fever that reached nearly 105 degrees. She went into labor when she was 20 weeks pregnant. After resisting at first, she allowed doctors to give her the drug Pitocin [aka oxytocin, hormone/drug used to induce labor, though in this case to encourage labor already started] to speed the birth. Gabriel lived just two hours.
The Week, June 13, 2011: “Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum put his conservative credentials on display during a Sunday appearance on NBC's Meet the Press, out-hardlining many of his rivals by restating his long-held belief that abortion should be banned, even in cases of rape and incest. The former Pennsylvania senator also said that doctors who perform abortions should face criminal charges. ‘I believe that life should be protected at the moment it is a human life,’ Santorum said. ‘And at conception it is biologically human, and it's alive... it should be a person under the Constitution.’"
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