Earlier this month The Associated Press published a misleading news article based on a story published in The Philadelphia Inquirer and an accompanying column I had written in anticipation of that story. The AP story inferred that my wife, Karen, and I had considered having an abortion during a very personal and tragic ordeal which resulted in the premature birth and death of my son, Gabriel Michael Santorum. For the dignity or our son and to set the record straight, it should be clearly stated that Karen and I had never considered aborting Gabriel. In fact, we did everything humanly possible to save our son´s life. The following is our story of how we dealt with this situation, the decisions we made, and the brief life of our son. It is my hope that readers will see that there are alteratives to abortion fulfilling, inspiring, even joyous, alternatives. On Sept. 26, 1996, the U.S. Senate voted to sustain President Clinton´s veto of the partial birth abortion ban. I led the fight to override the veto on the Senate floor. Central to the debate was the assertion by opponents of the ban that this procedure was necessary later in pregnancy when a severe fetal defect was discovered. Opponents told me I could not understand what women who experienced the procedure had gone through. "it had never touched your life," one senator said. This is a story of how - just one week after that vote - it did. We had been through the joyous routine before - the technician would turn out the lights, spread gel on Karen´s growing abdomen, and right there on the screen we would get the first glimpse of our baby. This time was different. Sitting in the darkened room explaining what we were seeing to our three children, ages 5, 3, and 1, everything seemed fine. But the technician was strangely quiet, re-examining a dark circle on the screen. The doctor entered and repeated the routine. Finally, we were coldly given the verdict: "Your child has a fatal defect and is going to die." Suddenly our child, whom we already loved, was diagnosed with a fatal condition. Through our tears erupted the most basic of all parental emotions: We were going to save our child. My first thought was to call Dr. N. Scott Adzick, chief surgeon of pediatrics at Children´s Hospital in Philadelphia. Six months earlier, I had gone to Children´s Hospital and seen a world I had never known existed - a world of Dr. Adzick´s creation - a world of surgery and care for unborn children. As I described what had transpired and asked for help, he said that this was most likely posturethral valve syndrome. Scott´s principal concern was the absence of fluid in the amniotic sac which meant that our baby likely had a complete obstruction of his urinary tract a rare condition with a 100 percent mortality rate if untreated. Not typically understood is that the amniotic fluid encompassing the baby during development is actually the baby´s urine. The fluid not only provides a barrier of protection from outside trauma, but is necessary in the development of the baby´s lungs. Without the fluid, the baby´s lungs would not develop and the kidneys would cease functioning. Dr. Adzick arranged for testing at The Pennsylvania Hospital. A second sonogram revealed to Dr. Dick and Dr. Alan Donnenfeld, an ob-gyn and perinatologist, that the kidneys´ function had appeared compromised. We adjourned to a nearby supply room where Dr. Donnenfeld gave us three options: "Your first option is to terminate the pregnancy." We knew that abortion was a legal option, but it was inconceivable to us to kill our baby because he wasn´t perfect or because he might not live a long life. While we couldn´t look into his eyes or hold him, he was no less our child than our other children. And we loved him every bit as much. The second option was to do nothing - and our son would only live only as long as he was in the womb. The third option would entail several tests and possibly intrauterine surgery. Karen´s response was to do whatever it took to save our son. Our son went through two days of tests to determine kidney function. If there was no kidney function there would be no point in proceeding - - he would not develop enough in the womb to survive outside. The first day the test results were so bad that we discussed whether it was worth going through a second painful day for Karen. Dr. Adzick said we needed a miracle overnight for the kidney´s improvement. We prayed more than I can remember for our son, named that day Gabriel Michael, after the great archangels. The next day our prayers were answered with a miraculous improvement; the kidneys were not just OK, but functioning normally! We could do the surgery that would save his life. The surgical procedure to drain the urine into the aruniotic sac in an effort to create the proper fluid environment for Gabriel was scheduled at the Pennsylvania Hospital with Dr. Bud Wiener, who had done more of these procedures than anyone on the East Coast. We would check in three days to see if the tube was working and, of course, there was the customary surgical concern about infection. Two days later while at home in Pittsburgh, Karen began feeling chills and cramping - the chills were a sign of infection and the cramping was the beginning of labor. Karen was rushed to Magee Women´s Hospital. There a doctor performed another sonogram. What we saw made this moment even more tragic - the screen revealed an active baby jumping and moving freely in a sac of amniotic fluid. The procedure had worked like a charm, but the infection persisted. Karen was seized with horrible chills and her temperature soared to over 105. There was little that could be done. Intrauterine infections are un-treatable as long as the source of the infection - the amniotic sac - is in place. We knew that at 20 weeks Gabriel could not survive outside the womb. But, unless the amniotic sac - including our son - was delivered, Karen would soon die, and Gabriel with her. While Karen was given an antibiotic to reduce the fever, she clung to the baby with all her strength. But soon the labor intensified - the body had identified the problem and took measures to eliminate the infection. She did everything she could to delay the inevitable, but every doctor gave the same verdict: Gabriel would have to be delivered. Again, the doctors told us that abortion was a legal option to protect Karen´s health and possibly save her life. But with the support of Dr. Cynthia Simms and Dr. Adzick, who had become a supportive force for us throughout, we arrived at another way - a way that gave our son the love and respect he deserved and gave Karen and me a gift that we will forever cherish. Our call to Dr. Adzick, who had been our guiding light through this storm, put an end to our search for alternatives. He was filled with grief and sadly told Karen that Gabriel would have to be delivered. I thanked God for the presence of Karen´s parents and our friend Monsignor William Kerr who provided so much love, comfort and support during this most difficult time. Karen´s father is a pediatrician/geneticist and was so helpful guiding us through all the medical information. Monsignor Kerr provided spiritual guidance and strength through prayer. Within hours, at 12:45 a.m. our son was born. He was a Beautifully formed creation - a small, pink package of joy, sorrow, hope and questions. We bundled him up, put a little hat on his head to keep him warm. We held him, sang to him and cried for him. We knew the end was near, so we tried to pack a lifetime of love into those few hours. He was too small to make a sound, but he spoke so powerfully to our hearts. His eyes never opened to see us, but he allowed us to see in him the face of God. Two hours later, he died in my arms. This is our story. The irony of finding ourselves confronted with a baby with a fatal defect when only a few days before the absence of such had disqualified me from the debate on partial birth abortion was truly overwhelming. On two occasions we too could have chosen to abort, but we chose to let Gabriel live and die in the fullness of time - being held and nurtured by two parents who loved him. In the midst of the debate that fall, worried about the impact of the gruesome description of the procedure, a senator opposing the ban said that a partial birth abortion, like a simple appendectomy, was bloody - - that was just the nature of the event. The Washington Post described what happened next: "Republican Sen. Rick Santorum turned to face the opposition, and, in a high pleading voice cried out, ´Where do we draw the line? Some people have likened this procedure to an appendectomy. That´s not an appendix,´ he shouted, pointing to a drawing of a fetus. ´That is not a blob of tissue. It is a baby. It´s a baby.´ "And then, impossibly, in an already hushed gallery, in one of those moments when the floor of the Senate looks like a stage set, with its small wooden desks somehow too small for the matters at hand, the cry of a baby pierced the room, echoing across the chamber from an outside hallway. "No one mentioned the cry, but for a few seconds no one spoke at all." A freak occurrence: a visitor´s baby was crying in the hallway as a door to the floor was opened and few seconds later closed. Or maybe, a cry from the son whose voice we never heard, but whose life has forever changed ours.