Rick Santorum to Resume Campaign Duties

COMMENTARY | Rick Santorum has put his family values out there for all to see. He almost prides himself on his strong ties to family and his belief that the United States needs to return to its roots. It therefore comes as no surprise that the family man would drop everything when his three year old became ill on Saturday, Jan. 28, and was taken to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Isabella Maria Santorum, better known to most as Bella, has a severe genetic condition known as Trisomy 18, also known as Edwards syndrome, which impacts both her physical and mental development. Luckily, the youngster is now on the road to recovery and is expected to be released on Monday, Jan. 30. Santorum will be making an appearance on Monday afternoon at St. Charles Community College in Missouri.

Though he was forced to miss some events, he had no shortage of individuals to take over for him. His daughter took the reins to give a campaign speech to a small group of supporters in Sarasota, Fla. Even the Duggar family, a reality television family best known for having 19 kids, came out to take over one of his scheduled events for him. The family had also supported the candidate in Iowa.

Trisomy 18 is a genetic disorder that generally leads to stillbirths or to infants dying shortly after birth. Having an extra 18th chromosome will generally cause severe physical and mental developmental delays. Though time is often short for a child with Trisomy 18, there are children who have lived into adolescence and even adulthood. Females tend to live longer than males.

There are many reasons that someone would not want to vote for Santorum including his belief that all abortion, and some contraceptive use, should be outlawed, including when a mother’s life is in danger. However, there is really no fault to be found in his decision to take time off to be with his sick daughter. Though the primary campaign is important and shouldn’t be skipped for a round of golf or anything like that, it is perfectly understandable that a candidate would need to take a day to be with a very sick child. I doubt that there will be any lasting impact on Santorum’s campaign due to the time spent with his daughter Bella. Best wishes to her for a speedy recovery.


People also view

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *