Santorum Told CBS News That Amniocentesis "More Often Than Not" Results In Abortion. - CNN

[WillyT]

Santorum, an outspoken opponent of abortion rights, told the CBS News program "Face the Nation" on Sunday that amniocentesis "more often than not" results in abortion.

Link: http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/19/politics/santorum-prenatal-testing/?hpt=hp_bn3

[LisaL]

1. I hope he keeps on sharing his views with us.

Cause those views are something else entirely.

[Warren DeMontague]

2. Gosh, I really hope the Republicans don't nominate him. He'd be unbeatable!

Please, please don't throw me in that briar patch.

[BOHICA12]

7. Your not suppose to know that story!!

[RKP5637]

3. Gee, something else, no doubt, he would like to persecute and imprison the

medical profession for ... a whole new cause,

[Ilsa]

4. GOP: need a statistic to back you up? Make one up! nt

[spanone]

5. rick is a fanatical science denier. blinded by religion.

[BOHICA12]

6. If the results show a problem - is he not correct?

Amnio leads to peace of mind or the most gut wrenching decision in life. Our choice was not to have amnio because the decision was already made, but we did have a choice.*


* - we suffered no consequences - just a 19 year old College Junior.

[gratuitous]

8. But how many amnio procedures show a problem?

If there are 100 amniocentesis samples taken and five show a problem, and three of those fetuses are aborted for whatever reason, I'd say Santorum's incredibly wrong, as that would be a 3% abortion rate. But if you want to change what he said to restrict it only to amnios that show a problem, then he's correct, in a way.

I don't think it's up to Rick Santorum, however, to decide for those three couples what they think they can stand to do. There may be profound defects, and the parents (or single parent) simply doesn't have the resources a millionaire like Santorum has. Keep in mind that Santorum is also against funding for programs that would help the parents of a profoundly disabled child. In Santorumworld, sex is only for procreation, and damaged babies are apparently a risk to be taken and accepted. Unless you're Rick Santorum, and you can call on your wife's former boyfriend to do a little "procedure" for you.

[LisaL]

9. Not everybody can afford to sit at home homeschooling their kids either.

[yellowcanine]

12. He did not qualify it that way so no he is not correct. You can turn almost any false statement

into a correct statement by adding a qualifier. Presidential candidates should not be making statements which are clearly false just to play to the base.

Anyway, even if one adds the qualifier, I very much doubt he is correct. In many cases, the confirmation of a problem by amniocentesis will allow doctors to manage the pregnancy for a better outcome for both fetus and mother. And many parents choose to continue with pregnancies of a fetus having chromosomal or congenital abnormalities - except that now they and the doctors are better prepared. In any case it is almost certain that Santorum has no data to support his claim, qualifier or no. So he should not make it. Santorum's problem is that he is of the mindset that more information is somehow bad - of course he and his co-religionists seem to lose this distaste for information when it comes to forcing women contemplating abortions to have sonograms. Amniocentesis just happens to be one of the boogeymen of the Christian Right.

[BOHICA12]

17. According the the article in the OP ...

termination has been shown to be in the vast majority in cases where the amnio came back with bad news. But hey, that's just CNN.

[yellowcanine]

18. I would have to know what qualifies as "bad news."

Abnormalities where the baby has almost no chance of surviving more than an hour or two after birth - ok, I could believe that. But chromosomal abnormalities such as Down's syndrome where there is a pretty good chance for survival to adulthood - I very much doubt that anywhere near a majority of those cases result in termination. And if you are going to make such a claim you have some responsibility to point to a credible medical study which of course he did not.

[BOHICA12]

21. Here is one source .....

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2008/09/down-syndrome-and-abortion-rates/

Doesn't look like there is a warm welcome to the family of man.

[noiretextatique]

23. and so what if he is correct?

unless he and his religious friends choose to pay for the care of a severely physically or mentally impaired child...it's still none of his fng business.

[starroute]

10. That has to be not only wrong but wildly wrong

I can't find exact figures -- but various sites say that only 5% of amniocentesis results show any problem with the baby. And not all of those parents choose to abort.

I also find that 90% of abortions are performed in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, and that amniocentesis is usually performed between 14 and 20 weeks.

Either way, it means that the vast majority of abortions do not follow amniocentesis, and that the vast majority of amniocentesis procedures do not lead to abortion.

[Motown_Johnny]

11. Not intended to be a factual statement (?)

It seems right up there with "over 90% of what Planned Parenthood does is abortions".

[originalpckelly]

13. Santorum: emphasis on the fecal matter.

That is all.

[originalpckelly]

14. It's really too bad there isn't a prenatal test to find out who will be an asshat.

We all know the results of Santorum's test, if it did exist.

[hifiguy]

15. Short of dousing himself with gas and

lighting himself on fire, is there anything more Santorum could do to destroy himself? Every time he opens his noise hole something ever more insane comes marching out.

[fugop]

16. Did anyone actually call him on this statement?

Did anyone ask him to cite where he got his info from? Or did they just, as usual, let the lie stand?

[lapislzi]

19. Is there no way to shut this fuck up?

I've read about four articles today where this idiot is pontificating bullshit of the purest ray serene, and it's just published without comment.

[Viking12]

20. * "Not meant to be a factual statement" TM

I think John Kyle is going to get mad that Froth-boy keeps infringing on his trademark.

[noiretextatique]

22. he's the new science guy

he read the literature and everything!

[Jennicut]

24. I know his statements about women, gays, Democrats, religion are all offensive.

But if he keeps making them he looks more and more loony to middle of the road independents. I don't know whether to be incredibly pissed off or slightly happy that we might have an easier election then I thought. Rick, do you have any advisers around you to tell you to shut up?
By the way, amniocentesis is rare to begin with. It hardly leads to more abortions. I wouldn't abort a developmentally needy child. Repubs don't care about these types of kids anyways, they want to cut programs and education funding to public schools that help teach these kids. I know, I work with these types of children all the time as a paraprofessional. Lack of funding is a big issue.

[salin]

25. Another day, and another Santorum fabricated fact.

Is he ignorant or malevolently manipulative?