Rick Santorum: “I Don’t Believe Life Begins at Conception, I Know It Does”

National   |   Sarah Zagorski   |   Jul 10, 2015   |   6:06PM   |   Washington, DC

In New Orleans, presidential hopeful Rick Santorum addressed the attendees of the 46th annual National Right to Life convention. He shared about his strong pro-life convictions and how he plans on advancing the pro-life cause if he wins the presidency. In the past, Santorum worked for the passage of the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act, which was signed into law in 2007 by then-President George W. Bush.

At the convention, Santorum began by reminding the audience of his daughter’s condition, Trisomy 18 also known as Edwards Syndrome. As LifeNews previously reported, Santorum made the decision to suspend his 2012 presidential campaign when his youngest daughter, Bella, was released from the hospital after facing severe illness. Bella suffers from a chromosomal condition called Trisomy 18, also known as Edwards’s syndrome. According to the Trisomy 18 Foundation, the condition is extremely rare and occurs in only 1 out of every 2500 pregnancies in the United States and about 1 in 6000 live births. Tragically, the one-year survival rate for Trisomy 18 is 1%.

Santorum said that it would be amazing to have little Bella, who is now seven years old, in the White House.

He said, “There is no better way than to preach the gospel of life than to have a little girl in the White House that shows the American Public the dignity of every human life.”

Then Santorum went on to say that it’s a very difficult time in America for the life issue and that it’s critical Americans stand strong on their beliefs.

He said, “I don’t believe life begins at conception. I know life begins at conception. This is not a matter of debate, not a matter of faith, not a matter of belief.”

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He also criticized the pro-abortion movement for denying science when it comes to unborn life. He said, “For a group of people that like to talk about science- that the science is settled yet on the most fundamental issue of science, that is Life, they actually refuse to accept science. Anytime you hear that the science is settled, then say ok…then let’s start there. Every child at the moment of conception is both living and metabolizing. It is genetically completely human, therefore a baby at the moment of conception.”

Earlier this year in an interview with the Washington PostRick admitted that until his daughter was five months old he was convinced that she was going to die and thought the best thing he could do was to treat her differently and not love her as he had his six older children. He believed that it wouldn’t hurt as much to lose her if he had his guard up. However, since then he’s realized that was wrong. He said, “I remember holding that finger, looking at her and realizing what I had done. I had seen her as less of a person.”

At the end of his speech, Santorum garnered a standing ovation after he said that the Supreme Court doesn’t have the final say on anything and it’s our turn to overturn Roe vs. Wade. He concluded, “You never lose because the people always have the right to speak. The Supreme Court does not have the final say on anything; the American people have the final say. That’s the United States I live in.”

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