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| Senate Democrats block Zika funding bill over GOP provisions | Senate Democrats block Zika funding bill over GOP provisions |
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| A Republican bill that proposed $1.1 billion to counter the Zika virus failed in the US Senate, as Democrats who opposed the measure said the legislation was chocked full of unrelated measures and funding restrictions for reproductive health outlets. | A Republican bill that proposed $1.1 billion to counter the Zika virus failed in the US Senate, as Democrats who opposed the measure said the legislation was chocked full of unrelated measures and funding restrictions for reproductive health outlets. |
| The bill failed on Tuesday in a nearly clean party-line vote of 52-48, failing to reach the 60 votes necessary for passage. Democrats said they could not support the measure for several, unrelated provisions, including limits to funding for health care providers of birth control, as well as weakened standards for pesticide use near water sources. | The bill failed on Tuesday in a nearly clean party-line vote of 52-48, failing to reach the 60 votes necessary for passage. Democrats said they could not support the measure for several, unrelated provisions, including limits to funding for health care providers of birth control, as well as weakened standards for pesticide use near water sources. |
| The legislation's limits on funding for birth control services was "a backdoor way of restricting care from women’s health providers like Planned Parenthood and family planning centers that would have serious consequences for women’s health," Democratic leadership said, according to Roll Call. Democrats also opposed the removal of language in the bill that barred the US Department of Veteran Affairs from displaying Confederate flags at VA facilities on certain days. | The legislation's limits on funding for birth control services was "a backdoor way of restricting care from women’s health providers like Planned Parenthood and family planning centers that would have serious consequences for women’s health," Democratic leadership said, according to Roll Call. Democrats also opposed the removal of language in the bill that barred the US Department of Veteran Affairs from displaying Confederate flags at VA facilities on certain days. |
| The funding legislation, passed by the US House last week and accompanied by another funding bill for veteran and military construction programs, was negotiated by House and Senate Republicans without the input of Democrats who opposed some of the legislation's provisions related to fighting Zika, a mosquito-borne virus that causes severe birth defects. | |
| The measure passed by the House would offer $1.1 billion to fight Zika through September 2017, including efforts to develop a vaccine. The bill's spending would be offset by $750 million in savings from unused Ebola funding, cuts to administrative funding at the US Department of Health and Human Services, and unused money for the health care exchanges within the Affordable Care Act. | |
| The bill would have restricted the use of $95 million worth of federal grants to offer birth control to women in the US, including Puerto Rico, who are threatened by Zika. The bill would also weaken restrictions on pesticide use. |