Credit Where It's Due: Boston Herald Columnist Defends Santorum

Nothing could be more repugnant than ridiculing the actions of a grieving family after the death of a child. It has not been a surprise that Leftists, who celebrate a culture of death, would pile on presidential candidate Rick Santorum and his wife for their actions following the death of their child. Nothing is off limits to the left and their politics of personal destruction.

Jake Tapper, one of the few true journalists left in the main stream media, recently wrote a blog entry discussing the progression of this attack on Santorum. Most of the left’s high-profile, atrocious hit pieces have been covered at Big Journalism here and here so there is no reason to cover them more. Tapper brought attention to a new piece, a column in the Boston Herald, by Jessica Heslam.

It was a pleasant surprise to see the Boston Herald publish a column written by a person who’s actually suffered through a trauma similar to the horror the Sanotrums experienced. The article is very poignant, indeed heart-wrenching.

I was 26 weeks pregnant with my first child, and it had been a blissful pregnancy. But on that beautiful July morning, something wasn’t right. I hadn’t felt my baby move, so I called my doctor’s office.

As I lay on the table in the dark ultrasound room, the technician glided the wand over my swollen belly. She then quietly slipped out of the room to get the doctor. My mind was racing and tears streamed down my face as I desperately held the hand of my husband, Herald reporter Dave Wedge.

It is impossible to imagine a loss of this magnitude without having experienced it personally. In spite of this reality, leftists have continued to peddle the meme that the manner in which the Santorums dealt with the death of their child is somehow weird or the result of some odd right-wing extremist quirk. As Heslam points out, that is far from the truth,

We were gently encouraged to hold our stillborn baby. I was terrified. I had no idea what to expect. No idea what my baby would look like. How on earth could I hold a child whose smile and cries I would never see or hear?

One of the nurses swaddled my daughter and put her in my arms — an act for which I am eternally grateful. Despite our fears and trepidation, the nurse assured us that holding our baby daughter would help us through our ordeal. As painful as it might seem, it would help us heal.

Grace was beautiful. She had my husband’s lips and my big toe. We told her how much we loved her and how sorry we were. Our families got to see her, too, and a priest came to our hospital room to bless her.

This story is eerily similar to the story the Santorums describe about their own loss and how they were counseled to manage it.

The Santorums’ actions are in line with American Pregnancy Association guidelines, which urge grieving parents to talk to and touch their stillborn babies — and for family members to spend time with them as well.

This story has cast the light of day upon the sheer depravity of the left. Because this behavior by the media has become the rule rather than the exception, it is vitally important to note when the media handles an awful situation properly. In this case both Heslam, the author willing to recount her family’s traumatic story, and Jake Tapper, who was willing to expose the story to a wider audience, deserve credit for advancing a positive narrative.