Comments on: Santorum stands by prenatal screening opposition
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- Dan1801
" $1,300,000,000,000 more in debt without any attempt to try and address the real problems"
The real problem is that we no longer tax the wealthiest people, we need to go back to the indexed tax system of the 1940's 50's 60's and 70' and every thing would be fine. - Reply to this comment
- Looks like the latest in a long line of non-Romney front runners is well on his way toward alienating the general electorate and eventually going into self-destuct mode.
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- someone needs to tell mr. frothy lube / fecal mix that america is a SECULAR nation where women have rights.
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- Santorum. You and the Greedy OLD Party needs to keep your beliefs YOURS. Keep out of Americans private life!
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- This guy is just flat out nuts. His ridiculous campaign will quickly implode the more he makes it about his wacko extreme social conservative agenda.
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- Rick Santorum is the Ayatollah of the Christian Taliban.Just one,granted,but the most radical.That he is running for President,that he has the opportunity,is frightening.Religion and spirituality should be between an individual and his spiritual choice.If you choose to believe what another person tells you,so be it.Just dont try to force other people to believe what you do.The President was just trying to give employees of churches or church support companies,who are not of that religion,the same benefits non-affiliated business employees have.To do otherwise means that particular church is forcing the employee to accept its beliefs through denial.
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- Rick Santorum would lose to Obama by 20%+ points.
He would be a disaster for the GOP.
Nobody thinks he'll ever be president or I'd worry about what he'd do if he was. - Reply to this comment
- Santorum appears to believe that the Biblical "Forbidden Tree of Knowledge" is a metaphor for scientific literacy and preventative health care. Prenatal testing is simply an example of taking a bite of the apple -- a sin to be sure.
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- I'm willing to bet that Rick Santorum will be vilified by the media for his claims, but I can personally attest that his claims are true and that abortion is encouraged even when test results are not 100% accurate..
With our first daughter, our OB/GYN recommended the usual battery of tests including one called AFP (alpha fetoprotien). A short time later, we heard that the AFP test results were "positive" and we were encouraged to meet with a genetic counselor. The counselor told us that, based on the test result, it was possible that our child would be born with debilitating spinal bifida. We were told about the immense costs we would likely personally incur to care for such a child, not to mention the great emotional heartache. My wife was in tears for quite some time. Naturally, abortion was the first option offered by the counselor.
My wife and I are personally opposed to abortion but the meeting really tested my personal faith and values. I mean, if abortion is the recommended course of action by a health care professional, then the outcome must be foreordained, right? After much soul-searching, prayer, and tears, my wife and I both emphatically agreed that we would have our child, regardless of the test results. My wife recollects that we even had to sign papers to that fact before discussing the matter further with the counselor.
As an engineer and professional skeptic, I questioned the AFP test and the accuracy of the results. I later found out that the AFP test has a very high false positive rate. It is meant as a screening test to trigger additional testing, which I found odd because abortion was the first recommended course of action. We refused abortion so the next recommended course of action was an amniocentesis procedure. After additional research, I discovered that amniocentesis itself had a higher probability of causing a miscarriage and thereby killing our daughter than the probability that our positive AFP test would be confirmed as a positive by the amniocentesis, indicating that she really might have spinal bifida.
Again, we refused the amniocentesis procedure and opted for a more-accurate level-2 ultrasound. Although not foolproof, the level-2 ultrasound showed no signs of spinal bifida..
Fortunately, our daughter was born beautiful, happy, and healthy. In fact, our little supposed "genetic deformity" earns straight A's in school and even won a first place ribbon at the county science fair a few years ago. Her only disability is the complete inability to pick up her room--which she inherited from her father.
A friend of the family is a nurse. She found out that she was pregnant at 41. Because of her age and because she already had children, she was recommended to have an abortion to avoid the possibility of having a Down's child. Fortunately, her youngest is also completely healthy.
Here in California, I believe that there are indeed financial incentives for the state to provide AFP screening tests due to the high cost of POSSIBLY caring for disabled children. I can understand this, but the tests must be accurate!
How many prospective parents know that high false positive rate? How many prospective parents ever questioned the health care system's recommendations? How many compare the risks and rewards of various treatment options based on scientific facts? How many perfectly healthy children were unnecessarily aborted because of a POSSIBLE negative outcome? - Reply to this comment
- Santorum is making Palin, Bachmann, Perry and Gingrich look like moderates. I think the T Party/social conservative Republicans should start over and go through the list again starting with Bachmann. When they get back to Santorum, they should realize that Palin is their choice.
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