Democrats strike down Zika bill over abortion restrictions

WASHINGTON—The Senate will head into a seven-week summer recess with unfinished business that could leave Americans’ health at risk. Senate Democrats blocked a Zika spending bill today in a 52-48 vote because of provisions they said they couldn’t support.

The Republican bill would have appropriated $1.1 billion to Zika research and disease prevention. The mosquito-borne Zika virus is linked to severe birth defects and lingering paralysis in adults.

Democrats refused to support the proposed spending package because of so-called “poison pills” they said the GOP snuck into the bill. The legislation contained provisions imposing restrictions on how Planned Parenthood could spend Zika funds and an unrelated measure allowing the Confederate flag to be flown at veteran funerals.

“Planned Parenthood … is a poison pill,” Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said.

Senate Democrats and the White House have pushed for $1.9 billion in Zika funding since February. The bill fell short by $800 million.

Now each side is blaming the other for the Senate’s six-month failure to cut a Zika funding deal. Republicans argue Democrats care more about appeasing Planned Parenthood than helping states and cities fight Zika.

“I see Republicans ready to pass a Zika bill and send it to the president this minute,” Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said during the floor debate before the vote. “And I see Democrats who are more interested in pacifying a Democrat special interest group than they are in actually doing anything about Zika.”

Planned Parenthood wrote every Senate office opposing the bill Tuesday morning before the vote saying, “a vote against this bill will be seen as a vote for women’s healthcare,” according to Politico.

But what about pregnant women’s healthcare, Republicans asked?

“The first TV picture of an American woman bearing a child with a birth defect caused by this virus will be on [Democrats],” said Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas. “I wouldn’t want to be in their position.”

Last month, Democrats approved a $1.1 billion Zika package before Republicans added the opposed provisions.

Democrats are demanding renegotiations, but Cornyn said the Senate will not reopen talks until after the summer recess.

Last week, the House approved $622.1 million in Zika funding redirected from other federal programs. Senate Republicans settled on Tuesday’s Zika funding amount with $750 million in offsets from other federal funding.

After the vote, Senate Democrats tweeted statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reporting 2,680 Zika cases in the U.S. and its territories and 481 possible cases of pregnant women exhibiting Zika symptoms.

“If Senate Democrats believe Zika funding is so critical, why did they block the resources to combat it?” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., tweeted.