Prayers For the Santorum Family

Rick Santorum has spoken tenderly of his daughter, his three-year-old daughter Bella, on the campaign trail these many months, who was born with trisomy. Pray for Bella and the Santorum family, and let us help hope that the enemedia can refrain from barbs and nasty potshots during this difficult time.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports:

The three-year-old daughter of Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum has been admitted to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the candidate has cancelled his Sunday morning campaign events to be at her side.

Santorum campaign spokesman Hogan Gidley said Saturday night that the former Pennsylvania senator and his wife, Karen, were with Bella at CHOP. Gidley said Santorum planned to return to campaigning as soon as possible in Florida, where the Republican primary is Tuesday.

Bella Santorum has Trisomy 18, a genetic condition caused by the presence of all or part of an extra 18th chromosome. Bella was not expected to survive until her first birthday and concerns over her health have canceled previous Santorum campaign events.

During his campaign, Santorum and his wife have spoken openly about the challenges and rewards of raising a child with such a condition.

The Santorums have six other children; they lost a baby boy, Gabriel, shortly after his birth in 1996. Bella was born in 2008; two years later, Santorum wrote about her in an Inquirer column.

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

Comments

[deborah lurya]

My heart goes out to them.

[GCBC]

A friend just lost her disabled child suddenly last week. It is heartbreaking and very difficult and yet these children are a blessing and gift in their own right. We learn much from having them in our lives.

[Nat's daughter]

I so respect Rick Santorum. My prayers are with him, his wife and family. Bella is blessed to have you as parents. May G-D bless.

[jharp]

And you fools want to repeal ObamaCare that guarantees children like Bella cannot be denied health insurance. You losers talk big about how precious life is and yet are willing to let children like Bella go without care and die.

You are incredibly stupid or have no soul.

[Christ_sux]

This is surely the wrath of the Almighty God. Santorum, in his outrageous politics, presumes to know what is righteous. He tells us how to live our lives, how to use our own bodies,claiming to have some kind of moral knowledge. Santorum is not a man of the cloth, and not trained in any religious tradition that I am aware of. He is a charlatan, a false prophet. The wages of sin is death.

[gullah]

I hope and pray she is ok. My heart goes out to the Santorums. I have met Mr. Santorum a couple of times and he is such a nice man.

To jharp, under Obamacare children like Isabella would be denied treatment. Please do some research. Jharp, do you understand that under Obamacare you are going to be forced to by health insurance or face a fine? The wait time to see a doctor is going to increase significantly. We believe one's medical decisions is between and individual and one's doctor. It is the left that wants to control your every move, right down to whether or not you can get a medical procedure.

To the poster at 12:15pm, Santorum does not tell you how to live your life. He simply expresses his belief that a child is better off being raised by a mother and father.
I was at his speech in SC after the primary and your OWS friends showed up and poured glitter all over us. The older gentleman I was standing next to was covered in it. That is an assault. What if someone inhaled the glitter?

Santorum and those of us that support him, would never go to one of your gatherings and scream at you nor would we throw anything on you.

Again, I pray that Bella will be ok. The Santorums are the salt of the earth. Good and decent people. His kids are really nice kids as well. Raised right. That is for sure. God bless all of them.

[jharp]

"To jharp, under Obamacare children like Isabella would be denied treatment."

You are either a fool or a liar.

ObamaCare expands the insured. By a lot.

And yes, the free ride is over. You teabaggers can no longer rely on freebies from the taxpayers.

You do have to buy insurance.

And what, might I ask, is wrong with a little personal responsibility instead of suckling off the taxpayers teat?

[Mama Grizzly]

G-d help the Santorums face this, and also little Bella.

As for ObamaCare. Do you idiots on the Left REALLY BELIEVE conditions like this will be cared for on the government payola? You've got to be kidding. Obama"Care" is about depopulation and eugenics.

Truth. Deal with it.

[jharp]

Mama Grizzly. You have no idea what you are talking about.

Because of ObamaCare no child can be denied health insurance. And children 26 and under can stay on their parents policy.

And you can keep the insurance and doctors you have now if you so desire.

You right wingers are such dumbasses. You are paying Santorum's medical bills but feel that you aren't responsible for paying your own.

Get over it. The free ride is over. Get yourself some insurance. What kind of loser wouldn't want to do that other than a loser who wants to continue his free rife on the taxpayers teat?

[pakay]

"And you fools want to repeal ObamaCare..." To jharp: YOU are a FOOL or a TOOL...either way, you know nothing,apparently, about the damage ObamaCare will do to this country economically. And eventaullay, if not right away, children like little Bella will receive NOCARE, because the Death Panels will deem it so.

[Tom Billesley]

@jharp @Christ_sux. Grasping this opportunity to grind an axe is mean spirited. Herein find your destination..

[Joe]

Pray for the Santorum Child. I will understand if Mr Santorum, a fine and a great Conservative,
lets his Nomination bid pass and attends to the needs of his precious family. We went through similar situations with two of my brothers, not the same affliction, and, it worked out fine in their cases. I remember my Dad pacing the floor praying. This must be a most difficult for the Santorums.

[jharp]

Tom Billesley.

The Rick Santorum's of your party want to allow health insurers to deny children like Bella access to health insurance. For the only reason of they will lose money doing it.

Got that? Rick Santorum is willing to let other peoples children die to preserve the profits of health insurance companies.

That. Is mean spirited. And wrong. And Rick Santorum knows it.

And you dumbasses are still far too stupid for that to sink in. Some day, maybe....

[Redneck Woman]

My heart and prayers are with the Santorum family at this time. I pray little Bella pulls through and defies the Doctor's predictions of an early demise.

I too am a parent with a little one who has Trisomy 21. There are many challenges to raising a child with a genetic anomaly. Many things can happen! It is more difficult than many can even imagine.

I am of the same mindset as Santorum....“All children are a gift that comes with no guarantees,” ......

jharp and christ-sux......you both are idiots of the worst kind! Children who are born with these types of genetic anomalies are not considered humans. They will not receive the medical assistance they need...they will be allowed to die, due to the cost of sustaining them. They will be too costly and are not seen as individuals that could possibly be of any value to society! Under these parameters....Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton would be in serious trouble today. They also had Genetic anomalies!

Grow up and grab a few working brain cells! Perhaps you better check with your Doctors about the Cranial Rectumitis you suffer from!

[jharp]

Sure I'll pray for the Santorums. But why should it stop there?

Why don't you rednecks get off your asses and do something besides lip service for the millions of children suffering without insurance.

Lip service is free. Doing something about it takes effort.

It is easy to guess which path you worthless deadbeats choose.

And you losers have the gall to whine about having to buy insurance? What the hell is that all about? You think it is your right to suckle the taxpayer teat for health acre?

Get off of your ass and pay your own way. And yes, that means buy yourself some health insurance. And quit relying on government handouts.

[jharp]

Redneck Woman posted "Children who are born with these types of genetic anomalies are not considered humans."

It is you who is the worst example of a human being our country has to offer.

All children are human beings you f*cking @sshole. Even sick ones. And they deserve the same treatment from health insurance companies as the healthy ones.

And you are some sick twisted repulsive scum to lobby for those poor children to be denied insurance and proper care.

[jharp]

Why is the teabagger position on lifetime cost limits for children like Bella.

You know, the lifetime limits that ObamaCare banned insurance companies from imposing.

You support putting children like Bella out on the streets once they go over their limit.

Your Jesus would slap your dumbasses silly for your using his name for such grotesque actions.

[Pedro Erik]

Hail Mary for Bella and the whole beautiful family.

[Tom Billesley]

@jharp
You're way off the mark. I'm not a member of Rick Santorum's party. You're making a political point on the back of a simple expression of compassion. You're also a foul mouthed individual. Seek professional help to manage that anger. It's ugly.

[Madeleine]

Obama did nothing, nilch, nada, zilch, for babies born after a botched abortion. He should have voted to allow life saving measures for those babies but he didn't. The notion that OBAMACARE would even consider paying for the pre-natal care of a mother who knows she is carrying a child with this defect is BIZZARO! There will be no pre-natal care I can assure you for mothers who are aware they are carrying a baby with defects who intend to keep them. They probably won't be allowed to keep them and bring them into this world in the first place. Look up Obama's partial birth abortion voting record. Legislation was then introduced to require appropriate care for abortion survivors. The Born Alive Infant Protection Act (BAIPA) defined as legal persons "every infant member of the species homo sapiens who is born alive at any stage of development." Further, "born alive" was defined as "the complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of that member, at any stage of development, who after that expulsion or extraction breathes or has a beating heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord, or definite movement of voluntary muscles, regardless of whether the umbilical cord has been cut and regardless of whether the expulsion or extraction occurs as a result of natural or induced labor, cesarean section, or induced abortion."

BAIPA "clarif[ied] that any baby who is entirely expelled from his or her mother, and who shows any signs of life, is to be regarded as a legal ‘person’ for all federal law purposes, whether or not the baby was born during an attempted abortion."

Obama opposed BAIPA for three straight legislative sessions—2001, 2002 and 2003. He voted against it four times. In 2001, he was the only state senator to speak on the floor against the bill. He spoke against it again in 2002, and in 2003 led the committee he chaired (Health and Human Services) in killing it. BAIPA finally passed in 2005 after Obama left for the U.S. Senate.

[jharp]

Posted by: Pedro Erik @jharp
You're way off the mark.
**************************

You have no idea what you are talking about. I have a pre existing condition special needs child.

And pre ObamaCare children like mine could not buy private insurance. And now they can.

And I'm "off the mark" for agreeing with that?

What the hell is wrong with you people?

[Tom Billesley]

@jharp By "way off the mark" I mean your assumption that I'm a Republican. See, you've done it again.

[jharp]

I can't even tell who is posting what so maybe I am off the mark.

Regardless. You dumbasses are lying about ObamaCare. ObamaCare expands coverage to children like Bella providing more timely and better care.

And the parents of children like Bella can focus on getting their child well instead of suffering the turmoil and and financial uncertainties of having a very sick child.

But profits of insurance companies are more important according to you jackasses.

[gullah]

jharp, under Obamacare it is going to be harder to get MEDICAL CARE. Having health insurance doesn't mean anything if you can't get medical care. I don't understand why you would have had trouble covering your child if you were working and had insurance. Minors are covered under most workers' health insurance.
People 70 and over are going to be denied medical treatment if we don't overturn Obamacare.
If Obamacare were in full affect, your child would probably not have been given medical care.
I have read some of the horrible things in the bill.

Remember: The bill has not really kicked in yet. The bad stuff doesn't kick in until 2014. They wanted to wait until after the 2012 elections.

By the way, I do have my own health insurance, but I don't believe the federal gov't has any right to force us to buy anything. You are aware that muslims are exempt from buying insurance and we will foot their bills? Obama has issued over 1200 waivers. Most were union friends of O's. Waivers?!

Your nastiness is very sad. Santorum is agianst Obamacare because he believes we all have a right to determine our own medical treatments.

[mofspecialchild]

Recently Kathleen Sebelius, of HHS used the phrase that 'units'over 70 will be offered palliative care. I ask any of you , which one of you wants to be called a 'unit'? And at the age of 70 no longer be given care because you are no longer worth the cost or the effort? Who will pay for the cost of care for all? The taxpayers, because the government produces no money, it all comes from those who pay taxes, or from a debt borrowed against tresury bonds, foreign governments like China. So when the money runs low, who will be the next negitiable unit to be taken out to keep down the costs? Truly, open your eyes and not be blinded by empty promises. Look at Canada and Europe and see our future. And Mr. Santorum's sick child should not be occasion to blast a man that loves his child over worldly success.

[jharp]

Posted by: gullah | Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 08:14 PM posted "You are aware that muslims are exempt from buying insurance and we will foot their bills?"

Great site Pamela. And such cutting edge brilliant posters.

I am very sorry that I ever had the misfortune of experiencing your vile bigotry.

I will not be back.

[gullah]

Glad to hear that you won't be back jharp. You are hateful.
It's not bigotry to point out actual thing in the bill.

[Asha]

@jharp, your shilling is pathetic. Wake up and grow up.

[Redneck Woman]

@jharp....

Do some research like I have! Children with genetic anomalies are not considered humans but actually are considered cattle!

I know what I'm talking about! You obviously don't! But then again you can't read properly.....I don't happen to think that children who are born with this genetic anomaly or any challenges are not human! The American Government thinks that way!

I happen to have a child with Trisomy 21....notice I said " A child"....I also volunteer with a group of folks who are trying to get an international non profit society up and running for children with challenges!I am doing something to help!

You are the sorry POS who can't see beyond his own nose!

What have you done lately for children with challenges? I'll bet ...not a dang thing!!!

[Lou J Apa]

II said a prayer, today, for little Bella that God would heal her of this malady and to lighten her heart with love...and for the Family I ask God's graces and mercies and peace!
God Bless The Santorum Family....
lja/JMJ

[John C. Barile]

Dear God, may you ever bless and preserve Bella Santorum, and her parents and family also.