Sen. Warner Calls for Congress to Return to Pass Zika Funding

“More pregnant women might get Zika, and more children would then be at risk for significant neurological problems”, he said.

As the Zika virus escalates into a public health crisis, members of Congress remain entrenched politically, with Republicans and Democrats pointing fingers over the failure to act as the number of mosquito-transmitted cases in the US grows.

However, the virus can cause severe birth defects, and pregnant women are being urged to stay away from the Miami area of Wynwood where mosquitoes with Zika are believed to be lurking. Most recently, Republicans angered Democrats by adding a provision to a $1.1 billion take-it-or-leave-it measure that would have slashed funding for Planned Parenthood clinics in Puerto Rico, where the number of infected pregnant women is skyrocketing. Still, these risks may be just the tip of the iceberg, as scientists are only beginning to delve into the unchartered territory of Zika’s possible long-term effects. Health professionals in the United States are preparing for the possibility of an epidemic of Zika which can be transmitted by mosquitoes. The combined time it took Congress to fund all of the last three public health emergencies – Ebola, H1N1 and Avian flu – was 137 days. Because inhibiting transmission is paramount to prevention, public health experts have made two primary recommendations: increased caution with regard to mosquitos and delaying pregnancy, a strategy that requires access to and proper use of contraception.

As you know, Congress left for the August recess after House Republicans killed a bipartisan compromise bill that received 89 votes in the Senate. Democrats balked at the bills that included measures that would make it more hard for women trying to access contraceptive services through Planned Parenthood and similar organizations and cut $540 million from the Affordable Care Act.

“We need a clean Zika bill passed immediately”, said Fuhrman. But funding for such preventive healthcare has been cut for years within states either on financial or ideological grounds.

Ryan disputed the notion that the $1.1 billion House-adopted conference report was a partisan measure.

Finally, and probably most importantly, Senate Democrats are upset that the Zika appropriations bill does not allocate funding for Planned Parenthood, arguing that it leaves women without care options. Tester recognized that although the disease won’t be transmitted by mosquitoes in Montana, it will affect Montanans. Low-income communities, which tend to lack sufficient air conditioning and window screens and are particularly conducive to mosquito-breeding factors, frequently take the hardest hits in environmental and reproductive justice catastrophes. Lawmakers could not finish work on the legislation before they left town, and they’re not due back until after Labor Day.

What the CDC does know, however, is that Zika lives longer in semen: “we know that Zika can remain in semen longer than in other body fluids, including vaginal fluids, urine, and blood”. She could relocate to ME – where they have a family home – but wouldn’t have the access to the doctors she needs.