Pro-lifers in Congress must fund Zika fight

Rep. Vern Buchanan, a Florida Republican, has called himself “pro-life” since he came to Congress a decade ago. This month, he’s proving it.

Buchanan last week announced his support for President Obama’s request for $1.9 billion to fight the Zika virus — a decision he based in part on “new research revealing that Zika eats away at the fetal brain and destroys the ability to think.”

He’s right about that. The mosquito-borne virus is going to cause thousands of babies in this hemisphere to be born with severe birth defects, and Zika is on the cusp of devastating the U.S. citizens of Puerto Rico and of spreading to the southern United States. Untold numbers of the unborn are being irreversibly harmed.

And yet the supposedly pro-life majorities in both chambers of Congress have done nothing with Obama’s request, more than three months after he made it in early February. Republicans demanded that the administration repurpose money that was supposed to have been spent fighting Ebola, and the administration did so even though that virus has resurged in Africa. Now, the congressional delay is hampering our ability to monitor the spread, to test possible victims and to prepare a vaccine.

In fairness, the congressional lethargy isn’t limited to Zika. The House has been in session only 210 of the 491 days of this Congress, including 36 days on which no legislative business was done, according to House Democrats’ tally. Only 150 bills have been signed into law — a fraction of historical totals — and 25 of those were ceremonial renamings of buildings and roads.

But with Zika, the delay is inevitably going to cause more fetuses to be deformed — and perhaps aborted — and a caucus supposedly devoted to protecting them is silent. There may never be a consensus on abortion, but can lawmakers not agree to fight a virus that destroys the brains of fetuses?

The few Republican officials who have called for action on the Zika funds have close-to-home reasons. Gov. Rick Scott of Florida, where the risk of spread is high, is coming to Washington, D.C., this week to urge Congress to act. His fellow Floridian, Sen. Marco Rubio, pleaded for action, too. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Washington, has also supported Zika spending; she’s pregnant with her second child.

On Monday, the National Governors Association, whose mostly Republican members will be on the hook when Zika arrives, urged Congress to act, saying “the nation is on the threshold of a public health emergency” and the prospect of “children born with severe, lifelong birth defects.”

But there’s quiet from the anti-abortion lobby. Groups I checked with haven’t taken a position on the Zika response, other than a few that have said laws against abortion should not be loosened in Latin American countries because of the virus.

National Right to Life published an argument in March questioning whether Zika causes birth defects and citing a study that said only 1 percent of babies born to mothers with the infection have the brain condition called microcephaly. “Abortion advocates would have had us believe the risk of microcephaly was much higher,” it said.

But Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told a Washington Post editorial board meeting Tuesday that “I can almost guarantee you” that the rate of birth defects is higher than 1 percent; another study puts it as high as 29 percent.

Fauci said “it is very likely we’re going to see local outbreaks of Zika in the United States,” and the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico “is on the precipice of a really serious disaster.” Extrapolating from the pattern of the chikungunya virus, spread by the same mosquito, Fauci said that 25 percent of Puerto Rico’s population of 3.55 million can be expected to contract Zika over the next year — including “a lot of pregnant women.”

And Ed McCabe, chief medical officer for the March of Dimes, told me Tuesday that Zika transmitted by local mosquitoes is on the “doorstep” of the mainland, too. “Every day we wait, we’re at greater risk,” he said. “Congress needs to act.”

Will GOP congressional leaders listen? Democrats have proposed replacing the ad hoc responses to outbreaks (Zika, Ebola, pandemic flu) with $5 billion a year for the moribund Public Health Emergency Fund. This won’t happen in the current political environment.

But taking a sensible step to stop Zika’s spread? Let’s hear no more from so-called defenders of the unborn until they’ve done it.

Dana Milbank is a Washington Post columnist.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Opinion

toon
Editorial cartoons for Thursday, March 28

A sketchy look at the news of the day.… Continue reading

Initiative promoter Tim Eyman takes a selfie photo before the start of a session of Thurston County Superior Court, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021, in Olympia, Wash. Eyman, who ran initiative campaigns across Washington for decades, will no longer be allowed to have any financial control over political committees, under a ruling from Superior Court Judge James Dixon Wednesday that blasted Eyman for using donor's contributions to line his own pocket. Eyman was also told to pay more than $2.5 million in penalties. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Editorial: Initiative fee increase protects process, taxpayers

Bumped up to $156 from $5, the increase may discourage attempts to game the initiative process.

Protecting forests and prevent another landslide like Oso

Thank you for the powerful and heartbreaking article about the Oso landslide… Continue reading

Boeing’s downfall started when engineers demoted

Boeing used to be run by engineers who made money to build… Continue reading

Learn swimming safety to protect kids at beach, pool

Don’t forget to dive into water safety before hitting the pool or… Continue reading

Comment: Why shootings have decreased but gun deaths haven’t

High-capacity magazines and ‘Glock switches’ that allow automatic fire have increased lethality.

Washington state senators and representatives along with Governor Inslee and FTA Administrator Nuria Fernandez break ground at the Swift Orange Line on Tuesday, April 19, 2022 in Lynnwood, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Editorial: Community Transit making most of Link’s arrival

The Lynnwood light rail station will allow the transit agency to improve routes and frequency of buses.

An image of Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin is reflected in a storefront window during the State of the City Address on Thursday, March 21, 2024, at thee Everett Mall in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Editorial: State of city address makes case for Everett’s future

Mayor Franklin outlines challenges and responses as the city approaches significant decisions.

FILE - The massive mudslide that killed 43 people in the community of Oso, Wash., is viewed from the air on March 24, 2014. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
Editorial: Mapping landslide risks honors those lost in Oso

Efforts continue in the state to map areas prone to landslides and prevent losses of life and property.

toon
Editorial cartoons for Wednesday, March 27

A sketchy look at the news of the day.… Continue reading

Burke: ‘Why not write about Biden, for once?’ Don’t mind if I do.

They asked; I’ll oblige. Let’s consider what the president has accomplished since the 2020 election.

Comment: Catherine missed chance to dispel shame of cancer

She wasn’t obligated to do so, but she might have used her diagnosis to educate a sympathetic public.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.