Many people are pro-life with their words, some are pro-life with both their words and actions, but for some, their pro-life beliefs are cemented after they’ve been tested in the fire. This is the case for the Santorum family, as Elizabeth Santorum Marcolini — daughter of former U.S. Senator and presidential candidate Rick Santorum — explains in an interview with Life Chat host Mary Kate Knorr.
Seven years ago Elizabeth’s sister, Bella, was born prematurely. The doctors repeatedly told her parents that “something wasn’t quite right,” but her parents remained determined to fight for Bella’s life no matter what the future might hold.
Shortly after Bella was born, while she was fighting for life in a Pennsylvania neonatal intensive care unit, test results came back with bleak results. The doctors told the Santorums that Bella’s condition was “incompatible with life” and that the “best thing” would be to just let her die.
But Karen Santorum, Bella and Elizabeth’s mother, was a fighter, willing to work as hard as she could to give her daughter the best life possible. And that is exactly what she did. “Bella is seven right now… she’s definitely not incompatible with life,” Elizabeth Marcolini marvels.
“She is a total gift to our family,” Marcolini explains, and remembers how much of a gift she continued to be as her dad started his presidential campaign.
Senator Rick Santorum has always been a staunch defender of life, says Marcolini. But, “in 2012 [when Bella was born], it just became even more personal… as we talked more about her, something incredible happened at [campaign] events. We started having to block the front of these events for wheelchairs.”
So many people, even people with different opinions, Marcolini recalls, began expressing interest in the Santorum campaign. People were simply drawn to Bella and her story.
Although Bella could rarely campaign with them in person, “she was very much there in spirit, and she was very much a part of the campaign.”
Marcolini remembers one time when she saw a girl with disabilities on her fathers’ shoulders carrying a sign that said, “‘I’m for Bella’s dad.” There are so many people who have said, “I’ve never gone to a political rally like this, but we feel like you’re fighting for us, we feel like you’re speaking for us.”
Tearing up, Marcolini explains how much of an inspiration these experiences have been for herself, her dad, and her entire family.
To learn more about the Santorum family’s experience with Bella and how her life affected Rick Santorum’s presidential race, listen to this full Life Chat episode with Elizabeth Santorum Marcolini here.