It has been raining here in West Central Florida for days, and according to the radar, it’s going to keep on raining. That means lots of standing water, which translates into a bumper crop of mosquitoes. Luckily there’s not some dread disease being transmitted by mosquitoes in Florida! Oh wait…
The Feds skipped town without funding Zika relief efforts because the GOP attached riders to defund Obamacare, put new restrictions on Planned Parenthood and permit flying the Confederate flag at veteran’s cemeteries. But at least the state is on it:
“You have a great governor who’s doing a fantastic job, Rick Scott, on the Zika,” Donald Trump told WPEC-TV of West Palm Beach. “He’s going to have it under control. He probably already does.”
Well, that’s reassuring. And for women who contract the virus while pregnant and find out they’re carrying a fetus with profound birth defects, Marco Rubio wants to make sure they don’t have access to abortion:
Sen. Marco Rubio said Saturday that he doesn’t believe a pregnant woman infected with the Zika virus should have the right to an abortion — even if she had reason to believe the child would be born with severe microcephaly.
“I understand a lot of people disagree with my view – but I believe that all human life is worthy of protection of our laws. And when you present it in the context of Zika or any prenatal condition, it’s a difficult question and a hard one,” Rubio told POLITICO.
“But if I’m going to err, I’m going to err on the side of life.”
Raising a child with severe Zika-caused birth defects can cost about $2 million in the first few years of life — if the child survives. But count on Rubio and his fellow Republicans to err on the side of tax cuts when it comes time to fund public health initiatives. The fuckers.
Anyway, that’s what has me pissed off today. You? Open thread!