Rubio said in August that it’s “difficult” to decide whether women with Zika should be allowed to have an abortion but when it all comes down to it, the senator said that he would “err on the side of life”, Politico reported. NARAL Pro-Choice America claimed that the senator from Florida is prioritizing his own agenda ahead of the health and safety of women and families. Rubio is anti-abortion in all instances even in incest and rape and has voted in 2015 for an abortion ban for women reaching the 20 week of their pregnancy.
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“I’m pro-life. And I’m strongly pro-life”.
The ads are set to run in the key battleground parts of Florida – Orlando and West Palm Beach.
Rubio’s reelection bid is a bright spot for Senate Republicans, who are defending 24 seats and are in danger of losing their majority. NARAL spent $175,000 on an ad this week blasting Rubio for the inaction on Zika, though inaccurately portraying him as someone who has helped to block the funding. “Rubio’s actions are putting women and families in Florida, ground zero for this outbreak, at much greater risk”, said Sasha Bruce, senior vice president for campaigns and strategy at NARAL, in a statement.
Rubio also has supported federal aid bills to combat Zika in the U.S. However, pro-abortion Democrats have been blocking the bills because of a small measure prohibiting funding to a few Planned Parenthood facilities in Puerto Rico. Currently, the Centers for Disease Control reports at least 624 pregnant women have been infected with Zika in the U.S. Five of their unborn babies died in miscarriages or abortions, while 16 other babies were born with birth defects in the U.S., the CDC reports. Senate Democrats blocked that $1.1 billion funding bill in June.
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There were 705 cases of Zika in Florida as of September 1. There are 40 local Zika transmission cases over the past month as well.
