Bella's Gift (7 page)

Nonetheless, a decision had to be made. If we released a statement about Bella’s hospitalization, we risked intrusive reporters infringing on her privacy and the talking heads debating as to whether or not this was simply a shrewd political move. In moments like this, I once again turn into a momma bear with her claws out. I am fiercely protective of all my children, but particularly of Bella. Filled with fear and trepidation, I was not about to relinquish my little girl’s privacy only to have the world pick her apart. Rick’s perspective was very different from mine. By doing a press release, he hoped the world would see Bella as we do: as a beautiful gift from God. Her life would be a witness in and of itself, and maybe, just maybe, people would begin to pray for her.

Rick’s staff laid the decision squarely on our shoulders. They shied away from any political talk, offering prayers and support. Rick and I went back and forth about the possible outcomes. What if people found out what hospital she was in? Would they try to catch a glimpse of her as fodder for the nightly news? A million thoughts ran through my head. I didn’t want to put her in the line of fire. But what if people did pray for her? We talked to a dear friend about the decision.
He reminded us, “God gave you the gift of Bella, but her story is not your own.” He was right. After praying together, we decided to introduce the world to our little girl.

The press release went out. We took a leap of faith that God would protect Bella and our family. Sitting in the tiny hospital room, Rick and I kept watch at her bedside that afternoon. As I read our drowsy little girl
The Runaway Bunny
, I glanced at Rick, who had fallen asleep sitting up in a chair. He deserved some shuteye. I don’t know if he’d truly gotten a good night’s sleep in the past year.

Sure enough, he was awakened a few minutes later by the buzz of his phone that never seemed to stop. New e-mail. New phone call. New text message. New news. New challenges. New victories. He started to respond and looked at me, bleary-eyed, then put his phone and tablet on the table. He came and sat next to me. We finished reading the book to her together, drowning out the sound of beeping monitors and buzzing phones.

As the day went on, the response to the news that Bella was in the hospital overwhelmed us. Our in-boxes were flooded with notes of encouragement, prayer, and support. The witness of a three-year-old little girl moved people in all walks of life from around the country. We got notes from people who didn’t agree with Rick politically that said, “Thank you for being a voice for the special-needs community” and “I really admire you for taking time away from the campaign trail to be with your little girl.”

Bella did something in the midst of a heated primary season that no one had been able to do until this point: she refocused our family and many others on what was really important. For
the first time, there was unity between the campaign camps as people prayed for Bella. Rick received thoughtful notes from many of the other candidates who were offering prayers for our little one.

Suddenly, Bella was headline news. Featured in major papers and on the largest networks nationwide, our three-year-old was a subject of national interest. For the most part, the dialogue was positive. People talked about her tenderly, even sweetly. I admit that I was happily surprised. I hadn’t known what to expect. I had feared they wouldn’t see her the same way we did, that they would see her as broken or sickly. She is neither. Bella is a joyful gift, a sweet little girl who gives nothing but love.

Commentators started discussing important issues surrounding the special-needs world, such as the legal struggles that occur when special-needs children aren’t given fair medical treatment, or any treatment at all. A whole host of issues were brought to the forefront of the debate, dealing with families, the pro-life movement, the special-needs community, and so much more. It was as though people realized the pro-life movement doesn’t end at birth, but it continues at the bedsides of the disabled, the elderly, and the vulnerable. Bella put a face on the helpless, those whom society looks upon as “useless.” Ironically, these children give perfectly the most important thing of all:
love
.

Like so many times before, we took turns staying with Bella and spending time with the other kids at home. She was never alone. As we watched over her, we witnessed something miraculous.
Within twenty-four hours of the press releases going out, Bella turned the corner. She went from critical condition, almost ready for a ventilator, to being clearly on the way to healing. Rick and I firmly believe in the power of prayer. As I watched Bella smile again, her overnight transformation witnessed to the belief that prayer can do improbable, if not impossible, things.

We ultimately decided to continue in the campaign for the same reasons we had decided to get into the race in the first place. The motivating force was the future of our children, especially Bella, in the wake of the Affordable Care Act and its effects on our nation and, in particular, children with disabilities.

People all over the country fell in love with our little girl, and from then on, “How is Bella?” was the main question everywhere we went. We carried pictures of her to show when someone asked about her.

As folks started to learn more about Bella, we discovered that more and more people were bringing their special-needs kids, like Julia, to our campaign events. We even met several beautiful children with Trisomy 18. The parents of these children talked to us about their struggles, and all were different, but a common thread ran through their experiences: the irreplaceable joy and love their mentally or physically challenged children brought to their lives.

During the past few years, many people have encouraged us to tell Bella’s story, to write about her. The problem was we did not know where to begin or what to say. Bella is only a little girl. In the eyes of the world, she is not particularly successful or accomplished. On the other hand, she is larger than life, and her few years have allowed her to impact the lives of many.
Our frustration was not tied to a constricting word count, but rather to the boundaries of language.

Words don’t do justice to her sea-blue eyes, her smile that overwhelms your heart, or her giggles that have all of us in stitches. Language has its limitations. With that in mind, we hope to share the story of a little girl who has never lived according to her limitations, but rather by the boundless nature of her spirit.

4
LOVE ENGAGES THE WILL

•
Rick Santorum
•

As in water face answers to face,
so the mind of man reflects the man.

—PROVERBS 27:19

B
eing pro-life can mean different things to different people. Living pro-life is a definitive walk. Gabriel and Bella transformed a policy position of defending the unborn to a passionate battle for the dignity of every human life.

Contrary to the media characterization of pro-life politicians being driven by their religious beliefs, I decided to defend
human life from conception until natural death through science. Like most Americans growing up in the sixties and seventies, I didn’t give abortion much thought. It had not touched my life or my friends or family, so I was never confronted with the choice. If the topic ever came up in conversation, I steadfastly took an accommodating stance.

That was possible, even in political circles, thirty years ago. I had been in politics since my college days and had even worked for a state senator, Doyle Corman, who was a pro-choice Republican from central Pennsylvania. Senator Corman and his wife, Becky, are like second parents to me. And their son, Jake, who replaced his father in the state senate, is like my little brother. During the entire time I worked for Senator Corman in the early 1980s, I don’t recall a single serious conversation about the abortion issue, probably because in those days it was easy to steer clear of “those” types of issues.

That noncommittal stance served me well until after a few years of practicing law. I had this ridiculous idea at age thirty to run for the United States Congress in suburban Pittsburgh. To my surprise, I started to get questions about my position on abortion. In the first few exchanges with voters, I practiced the chameleon approach. Unfortunately, this multiple-choice position on abortion soon proved untenable—who knew? This was a serious and increasingly important public policy issue, and I needed to give it the same rigorous analysis as taxes or foreign policy.

At that time I was a churchgoer, but more of a punch-your-time-card-on-Sunday kind of Catholic. I knew my church’s position on the issue, but that wasn’t going to be the deciding factor. I treated abortion like every other issue; I wanted to
get all the facts before making my own decision. As a lawyer, I had read
Roe v. Wade
and thought I had a handle on the law. The Supreme Court in 1973 stated that they couldn’t determine when life began, so they ruled that a fetus doesn’t have any rights during the first three months of pregnancy. After that, the fetus acquired some rights in the second trimester and even more in the final trimester. If the science backed this understanding of the nature of the human fetus, that biologically and even metaphysically the fetus is not fully human, then I would be on board with the court. If not, then it all depended on where the science led.

I discussed my conundrum with my then girlfriend, now wife. It so happened that her father, Dr. Ken Garver, was a world-renowned specialist in medical genetics. He was also a great defender of children with Trisomy 21 and wrote extensively about the dangers of eugenics. Who better to ask the facts about the science of when human life begins? (It was also a great way to make a good impression on my future father-in-law.)

My position on abortion would boil down to two points—one legal, one medical. The legal issue was straightforward. The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution states, “nor shall any State deprive any
person
of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” The Amendment doesn’t define
person
, but it does define
citizen
as “all persons born and naturalized in the United States.” So the unborn are not citizens, but are they
persons
, and therefore entitled to protection from laws that legalize abortion?

Who qualifies as a person? Webster defines
person
as “a human being.” So at what point does humanity begin? I wanted
Dr. Garver to help me answer the question: At what point do those cells in a mother’s womb become a “human being”?

After dinner Karen’s dad walked me though the scientific literature to explain not only when life begins but also the scientific consensus on this point. He was such a bright and caring person, and he spoke in a way that was understandable to someone without a medical degree. Here is the long and short, in layman’s terms, of my lesson that night: A zygote is created at fertilization, or conception. A zygote has the complete complement of unique human genetic material, thus at that point it is human. A human zygote can’t develop into a kangaroo or a mouse; it is human.

Is it alive? Webster defines
life
as “an entity that metabolizes, or converts fuel into energy.” Dr. Garver pointed out that from the moment of conception, the zygote begins to metabolize. In other words, the zygote is genetically human and alive and, therefore, a human life or person. I love my father-in-law for many reasons and will always be grateful to him for guiding me on so many important issues.

From that night forward, I knew I had to be pro-life. Years later—in fact, right after the 2012 campaign—a television host in California introduced me to his audience by stating, “The Senator believes life begins at conception—”

I interrupted him immediately and emphatically said, “No, I don’t!” The host froze right on national TV.

“You don’t?”

“No,” I said. “I
know
life begins at conception.” I wasn’t going to let this reporter put my pro-life position in the realm of faith or belief. I came to my decision based on science and 4D ultrasounds that allow us to look with stunning detail at the baby in the womb and reinforce what science confirms.

Why isn’t everyone pro-life? I know many otherwise wonderful people who elevate personal autonomy over the rights of “a group of cells that don’t look like a cute little baby.” But even most who hold that opinion also oppose abortions when the fetus begins to look more like a baby.

Gabriel and Bella were both candidates for abortion. Both infants’ obstetricians felt compelled to advise us that the most popular
option
for parents carrying children like Gabriel and Bella was termination—in other words, abortion. In a world that values abilities, either physical or mental, a child that is
dis
abled is less valued, particularly in the womb. I witnessed this debate firsthand before either Gabriel or Bella were born.