PINELLAS PARK, Fla. -- When Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., walked into the makeshift camp of protesters, reporters and family members outside Terri Schiavo's hospice Tuesday evening, some members of the family's entourage said they were caught completely by surprise, but were touched by his decision.

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In this extraordinary case of a severely brain-damaged woman who is fast approaching death, few members of Congress have been as visible or as vocal as Santorum, who has championed what he refers to as "life issues" since he was elected to Congress.

Santorum says Schiavo's case is one that has touched him deeply and profoundly over the past few weeks. Even his six children have followed the case closely since Schiavo's feeding and hydration tube was removed March 18 by court order, he said.

"Every day when they wake up -- 'Did Terri Schiavo die?' --that's the first question they ask," Santorum said. He said he has used the Schiavo case to talk to his children about the value of life, particularly for disabled people.

Santorum, a conservative Catholic, said he explained to them that "a woman is being starved to death because they don't think that her life matters anymore.

"That's not what we're taught to believe," Santorum said when asked what he said in his family's discussions about the case, "We should respect everyone's life, [including] those who are not normal or those who have been injured in a way that they're not who they once were. ... That's the lesson I want my kids to understand."

Schiavo's husband, Michael, has consistently maintained that his wife told him that she would never have wanted to go on living with assistance in what court-appointed doctors have described as a "persistent vegetative state." He has said he is carrying out her wishes by having her feeding and hydration tube removed.

Asked what he would say to critics who accuse him of using the Schiavo case for political gain, Santorum groaned audibly and said he didn't "know how anyone can believe that this is a political winner, if you look at any of the polls."

A CBS poll last week showed that 82 percent of Americans believe that Congress and the president should not have become involved in the Schiavo case. The poll was based on interviews conducted March 21 and 22."