A Moderate Look at Rick Santorum's Private Life and Politics - Part 1

From February 8, 2012. Not really important anymore, since Santorum is no longer in the picture, but I'm cleaning out the drafts folder, so here you go. 

Why does this freak people out?

Please donate to this worthy foundation. Source

I do not watch television anymore. If something doesn’t wind up on my home page’s new crawl, I don’t know about it. It is because of this that became the last person on the planet to hear about Rick Santorum’s at home funeral for his stillborn son. 

I am not interested in talking about Mr. Santorum, his politics, or politics in general. I am more interested in his decision and the reaction that his disclosure received. I have beliefs that favor the type of ritual the Santorum family described, so I did some research on their ordeal once it came to my attention. 

People were up in arms. Very negative language was tossed around with regard to his decision to have a funeral at his home with his family for a child that was tragically lost. I read articles where the story was described as “weird” and “horrifying”. The one that really got me though was the piece that said the family deified the fetus because of their pro-life beliefs. 

I understand that this is an election year, he is a controversial candidate, and his disclosure while campaigning made him an easy target for this kind of thing, but really? Can't a family grieve in their own way just as they are allowed to celebrate in their own way?

Home births and midwifery use is becoming more prominent among young mothers. I have seen dozens of uses and preservation methods for placenta. Sure, some people think it’s a little strange, as is their right, but the mothers are not accused of making a fetish item of their placenta. No one judges a mother for taking advantage of infant remembrance photography.

Meanwhile, the Santorum family’s story makes people very uncomfortable at best, and has been used to make political gains for the opposing sides at worst. I am ashamed of my liberal compatriots who have used this story to their advantage. I thought we were supposed to be tolerant and inclusive.

So, I think I told you I was going to submit some more to Offbeat this and that? There's something that I really want to write for offbeat mom, but I am having a really hard time writing it in such a way that I don't sound like a right wing psycho. I don't suppose you heard about Rick Santorum's baby's funeral? 

Apparently, in 1996, his wife had a stillbirth at 20 weeks. Being that Rick Santorum is a Catholic and a Politician, this is all tied up in politics and religion. They knew that there was a problem with the baby early on and were advised to terminate. They said no, we want to have surgery to try to save the baby - as is their right. That resulted in an infection and they were finally told that the baby was not going to survive in any case and if they didn't terminate the pregnancy the wife would die as well. 

So, they induced labor . . . or something. All of that's kind of confusing - I think it's a case of semantics. The crazy lefties are saying that she had a 2nd trimester abortion, but I'm not sure if the baby wasn't already dead and they induced labor in order to get it out of her without another surgery. I don't think any of that really matters - I imagine that were I in their shoes I would have done the exact same thing. 

Part 2 Coming Thursday.