Last week, the CDC revealed that at least 157 women are infected with Zika, a mosquito-borne virus that can produce miscarriages, stillbirths, and ghastly birth defects. The news comes in the wake of ongoing Republican refusal to provide adequate funding for research and treatment of the disease.
Republicans seem determined to create a society in which women and their babies cannot win. They want to ban abortion even for painful and untreatable birth defects, but they also do not want to provide funding for research and treatment that could prevent those birth defects in the first place. The message seems clear: women who choose to have children should be indefinitely punished, even when those children are wanted children conceived within a loving marriage.
Zika: What We Know Now
A few months ago, a rumor began circulating that Zika was caused by pesticides, not by mosquitoes. We now know that to be completely false, and telling women not to use bug spray actually increases their risk of Zika. Of course, if Zika were caused by pesticides, it would be a lot easier to control. Yet the more we learn, the scarier things get:
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The rate of microcephaly, which causes a range of disabilities, is 13% in women infected with Zika during pregnancy.
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Though Zika causes only mild symptoms in most adults, it directly attacks fetal brains. In one recent study, doctors watched as it melted fetal brain cells in utero.
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Most birth defects affect babies during the first trimester, but there is no safe time for Zika. In one study of women infected with the virus, Zika killed babies as late as 35 weeks gestation.
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In addition to miscarriage and stillbirth, Zika is linked to a cornucopia of birth defects, such as small brains, development disabilities, seizures, low birth weight, and dozens of other symptoms.
Republican Zika Obstructionism
Though Zika is present in the US, with 591 reported cases, there are no locally transmitted cases yet. All current Zika cases involve people who contracted the virus while traveling to other countries, or who contracted it after sexual contact with an infected person.
This is good news for pregnant women, since their odds of contracting Zika are low unless they travel outside the country. But as Zika cases rise and spring turns to summer, Zika may begin infecting American women. Now is the best time to research options for treating with or preventing the virus, yet Republicans have steadfastly refused to fund research and treatment.
President Obama has requested $1.9 billion in funding to research and control Zika, and Republicans have delayed for three months. This month, they suggested drawing funds from other sources first, potentially crippling research and treatment for other diseases, including Ebola.
Why Zika Matters in the Abortion Debate
Conservative politicians have long claimed a moral high ground in the abortion debate, arguing that they are committed to the lives of the unborn. The ongoing fight over Zika funding undermines this claim. Fighting Zika now, before it travels to the US, is the best hope women and their babies have for happy, healthy lives. Given that the virus causes a fetal death rate of 30% or higher, Zika funding now could save the lives of the unborn fetuses Republicans claim to care so much about.
It seems they would rather allow women and their babies to suffer, potentially running up a massive health care bill, and subjecting untold thousands of people to indefinite unnecessary suffering.
Abortion Clinics Online offers comprehensive, accurate information to women seeking abortions. ACOL sponsors Zawn's blogs for Daily Kos. Learn more about ACOL here.