Sen. Rick Santorum: American Healthcare Through the Eyes of a Dad with a Special Child

DALLAS, TX -- The Catholic Medical Association (CMA) welcomes Senator Rick Santorum as this year's conference keynote speaker. The staunch pro-life leader will candidly share his family's personal story regarding his 7th and youngest child Bella's life-threatening condition. Now 10, Bella was born with Trisomy 18, a rare chromosomal abnormality. Only half of those born with it survive a week; fewer than 1 in 10 make it to their first birthday.

"At ten days old Bella, was sent home from the neonatal intensive care unit on hospice care. She will never walk on her own, or speak intelligibly, or dress and bathe herself yet she is a sunny child, a delight to our family. "She has a beautiful, joyful life. She is the happiest little girl I have ever seen," said Santorum. The Catholic Medical Association's Annual Educational Conference will provide strategies for today's Catholic medical professionals on how to best balance modern issues of technocracy versus providing compassionate Christ-like care to patients. The conference, "Restoring Healthcare in A Technocratic Age," runs through Saturday at the Renaissance Dallas Addison Hotel, in Addison, TX. "Technocracy poses another challenge to providing good care to our patients. While technologies like bureaucratic regulations can serve the needs of the patient, and help run a practice, technology is often contrary to Catholic centered healthcare. We need to look past computer screens and into the faces of patients," said Conference Chair John A. Schirger, M.D. Santorum, a devout Catholic, applauds the CMA's on-going advocacy to pro-life issues. "CMA members are committed physicians and healthcare professionals who practice medicine in accord with the natural law and the teachings of Christ often in difficult circumstances. There are cultural influences that make this especially difficult in today's culture of death," said Santorum. Discussions include how technocracy often commodifies the patient violating the conscience of practitioners by depersonalizing and even taking the lives of the most vulnerable members of society. The conference will offer alternative ways to best deliver compassionate care.

Catholic Medical Association——Bio and Archives

The Catholic Medical Association is a national, physician-led community of over 2,200 healthcare professionals consisting of 104 local guilds. CMA’s mission is to inform, organize, and inspire its members, in steadfast fidelity to the teachings of the Catholic Church, to uphold the principles of the Catholic faith in the science and practice of medicine.