Rumors flying on Twitter appear to have been confirmed on Fox News and CBS, among other outlets — at least for the moment.  Just minutes ahead of a scheduled press conference in Gettysburg, PA, Rick Santorum has apparently decided to suspend his campaign.  Fox’s Carl Cameron reported it live on air shortly before 2 pm ET, but no reports are yet on the wires.  Politico reporter Reid Epstein says he has confirmation from PA GOP chair Rob Gleason.

Stand by for updates.  The live feed for the presser can be found here.

Update: CNN is now reporting it here, based on word from “a senior adviser to the campaign.” Fox has the headline on its site.

Update II: BuzzFeed has more here, and reports that Romney was informed of the decision some time this morning.  I noted earlier this afternoon that the e-mails from the Romney campaign today had focused attacks solely on Barack Obama, and wondered whether that was a signal.

Update III: The Boss Emeritus tweets that Santorum made everyone else pick up their game, and that’s absolutely true.  I’m disappointed that Santorum couldn’t compete better, but glad that the debate continued and that Santorum made Mitt Romney work for the nomination.  Rick Klein of ABC tweets that Santorum won 10 states — and that anyone who would have guessed that he could have won more than two is lying.

Update IV: Santorum starts off the presser assuring everyone that their prayers for Bella were very much appreciated and felt, and that she’s doing better.  However, that episode, Santorum says, prompted the family to reassess the status of the campaign and their goals as a family.  He’s talking about the campaign in the past tense, though, which makes the announcement pretty clear.

Update V: A nice touch: “It turns out that it really wasn’t my voice that I was out communicating with. It was your voice.”

Update VI: Santorum says the race is over for him, and stated clearly that he is suspending the campaign — but that he will continue to fight for his values.

Update VII: A good, emotional, and positive speech — but no endorsement for Mitt Romney, and indeed not even a mention of him.  Santorum did say that Republicans have to focus on beating Barack Obama, but that was as close as he got.  A reporter shouted out a question as Santorum left the stage about whether he will endorse Romney, but Santorum just wished the reporter well and thanked the room again.  Perhaps, though, it would be reasonable for everyone to give Santorum a little space on the endorsement question.

Update VIII: Mitt Romney’s team sent out a statement by e-mail at almost the moment the presser finished, congratulating Santorum on his campaign:

“Senator Santorum is an able and worthy competitor, and I congratulate him on the campaign he ran. He has proven himself to be an important voice in our party and in the nation.  We both recognize that what is most important is putting the failures of the last three years behind us and setting America back on the path to prosperity.”

Update IX (Tina): The Right Scoop has full video of Santorum’s lovely, gracious concession speech. My utmost respect to Rick Santorum for conducting such an honorable campaign from start to finish: