A pregnant woman with Zika should not have the right to an abortion, despite concerns about severe birth defects resulting from the virus, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio told
Politico.
Admitting that it is a difficult question, Rubio said that "if I'm going to err, I'm going to err on the side of life … [because] all human life is worthy of protection of our laws."
Throughout his political career, Rubio has been consistent on the issue, stating during his failed presidential campaign, for example, that he was opposed to abortion in cases of rape or incest.
Florida has been the state hardest hit with the Zika virus, which has alarmed health experts because it can cause severe microcephaly, among other birth defects.
CBS News reports that the virus has been transmitted locally in Florida, unlike in other states affected by the virus.
Attempts to combat the virus have stalled due to political infighting, as Congress in June voted down a Zika relief bill. Part of the reason the legislation did not pass was a dispute over abortion restrictions and other so-called "poison pill" clauses inserted by Republicans.
One of his Democratic opponents running for the Senate,
U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, condemned Rubio for his remarks in a press release, insisting the senator put his ideology over women’s health and saying that the June bill failed because it limited access to contraception and had cuts to women’s health funding and family planning services such as Planned Parenthood.
Rubio criticized the Democrats, telling Politico that "the words Planned Parenthood don't appear anywhere in the law."
The senator explained that the bill limited federal Zika money to "community health centers and hospitals, basically Medicare providers … with limited funds, you wanted to ensure those funds were going to facilities in every community in the state."
Rubio said it was Democrats that were playing politics with the issue.
"The Planned Parenthood angle is something they basically made up to have a political reason not to pass Zika so they can come back in August and campaign on it," he said. "That's what I mean by political volleyball. Both sides have played that game. I would have preferred the House just passed a clean funding bill and I'll vote for that if it comes out."
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