Reply #16

The Santorums experienced a spontaneous abortion following a medical procedure which left Mrs. Santorum with a bacterial infection. In layman's terms, she had a miscarriage. The Santorums did not induce labor - in fact Mrs. Santorum requested something to stop labor. Nonetheless, it is fairly clear they if the choice came down to her life or the life of the child she was carrying, she would have induced labor.

From the article:

"Ultimately, they did not have to make a decision; nature made it for them. Karen went into premature labor from an infection, delivering a boy who had a fatal abnormality. The child died two hours later.

In an interview, the Santorums said they would have authorized an abortion had there been no other choice.

``If that had to be the call, we would have induced labor if we had to,'' the senator said as he sat in his Washington office. ``I consider it a blessing that we didn't have to make that decision.''"

(There are more details about the procedure, the infection, the discussions surrounding the decision in the article.)

http://articles.philly.com/1997-05-04/news/25562508_1_fetal-abnormality-controversial-late-term-abortion-procedure-intact-dilation-and-extraction/