Florida's Republican governor, Rick Scott, and legislature have happily joined in on the War on Women and the war on Planned Parenthood, attempting to state funding to reproductive health clinics and diverting resources away from clinics that provide abortion. What does that mean when it comes to fighting a disease that kills and deforms unborn babies? A looming disaster.
"We haven't heard about any kits," says Laura Goodhue, a vice president at Planned Parenthood of South, East, and North Florida. Planned Parenthood hasn't received any Zika kits from the Florida Department of Health, nor has it received any guidance from the department about how to serve pregnant women during a possible outbreak. […]
A big part of the defense against infection for women in Florida appears to be the Zika prevention kits and OB-GYN outreach, but the Scott administration's strategy is unclear. The Planned Parenthood affiliate operates three clinics in Miami-Dade County, which has the fourth-highest uninsured rate in the country, and another just over the border in Broward County. The women's health care organization serves tens of thousands of people per year, many of whom are low-income and without insurance—and more likely to get pregnant by accident. As Laura Goodhue notes, they have not received a single kit.
A spokesperson for Today's Women Medical Centers, which offers family planning, prenatal, and abortion services, also said her clinic has not heard from Gov. Scott's office or the state Department of Health about what help to offer women facing Zika. They also do not have CDC Zika prevention kits.
Florida is the first state to have confirmed cases of locally acquired Zika—meaning the mosquitoes that carry it are now in the state. That's enough for the CDC to issue a travel warning advising pregnant women to avoid the area of Miami where the mosquitoes have been found. So women who are pregnant or who might be pregnant are advised not to go there, but the women who live there are stuck. And their governor is more concerned with shutting down the clinics that provide what health care they do get than preventing this looming crisis.