Senate Democrats Block Zika Bill Over Planned Parenthood Provisions
Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, in the Capitol on Tuesday. “It’s hard to explain why, despite their own calls for funding, Democrats would block plans to keep women and babies safe from Zika,” he said.Credit Al Drago/The New York Times
And notice how the Times treats the real sticking point in the body of the story:
As Congress returned from a seven-week recess on Tuesday, Senate Democrats again stymied a $1.1 billion plan to fight the Zika virus, demanding that Republicans drop an effort to block Planned Parenthood from receiving money to combat the mosquito-borne disease.
Democrats, who had essentially blocked the same legislation in late June, had enough votes Tuesday to prevent Congress from moving emergency funding public health experts say is desperately needed as they prepare for the possibility that Zika will spread to other states along the gulf coast. The vote was 52 to 46, and Republicans needed 60 votes to advance the bill.
Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican majority leader, said that although efforts to fight the virus had produced encouraging results, the problem was far from over.
“It’s hard to explain why, despite their own calls for funding, Democrats would block plans to keep women and babies safe from Zika,” Mr. McConnell said before the vote.
A bare mention of the poison pill in the bill -- defunding Planned Parenthood, which is the GOP's latest target in its anti-sex, forced birth crusade. So of course, it's all the Democrats' fault, because you can't really expect the Republicans to write legislation that doesn't incorporate at least some part of their social agenda.
OK -- the article does address the Democrats' objections, in a sketchy sort of way, down in the body of the story. But we all know that it's the headline and the lead that have the most effect -- and how many people will bother to read the whole story?
No comments:
Post a Comment