It’s different when they do it, I guess.

Rick Santorum, the guy who said that doctors who perform abortions should be criminally charged and called exceptions to protect the life of the mother phony, had his wife undergo a partial-birth abortion back in 1997.

In the 19th week of her pregnancy, 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.

They named it Gabriel Michael Santorum.

The event is obviously tragic, especially for Karen, who, like her husband, opposes any and all forms of abortion, even when it saves a woman’s life. 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.

and in light of Santorum’s recent comment about exceptions to save the mother’s life being phony, here’s this.

Today, hindsight being 20/20, Karen says she would have authorized the procedure after all, justifying the saving of her own life by explaining that her other children would have lost a mother.

As the article I read states, this procedure is considered by Santroum to be partial-birth abortion. He also personally authorized one to save the life of his wife, who he loves, and that is fine by me. But what really gets me is the stunning hypocrisy here. Rick Santorum is opposed to any and all forms of abortion, even going so far to say that exceptions to save the life of the mother are phony and that doctors who perform abortions should be criminally charged. If he had his way, someone who was in the same situation as he and his wife was, will not be allowed to pursue abortion in order to save the mother and therefore, will have to die.

This man should be kept as far away as possible from elective office for the rest of his life.

Read more of this story here.

While you’re at it, you should also read this interesting and highly relevant article: “The Only Moral Abortion is My Abortion”.