Senate Democrats block GOP's Zika funding bill

June 28, 2016 12:00 am • Last Updated: June 28, 2016 11:55 am

By By ANDREW TAYLOR, Associated Press

FILE - In this Jan. 27, 2016, file photo, an Aedes aegypti mosquito is photographed through a microscope at the Fiocruz institute in Recife, Pernambuco state, Brazil. President Barack Obama’s $1.9 billion emergency request to combat a potential public health crisis from the Zika virus is more than 4 months old, but congressional dysfunction appears likely to scuttle a scaled-back version of the president's request, raising the prospect that Congress may leave on a seven-week vacation next month without addressing Zika. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana, File)

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats have blocked a GOP-drafted measure to provide $1.1 billion to fight the Zika virus, accusing Republicans of packing the measure with partisan provisions and unfair spending cuts.

The nearly party-line 52-48 vote Tuesday left the Senate short of the 60 votes required to advance the measure. What happens next is unclear.

Democrats oppose a provision that restricts the use of $95 million worth of federal grants to provide services such as birth control to women in Puerto Rico threatened by the virus, which can cause horrible birth defects. The restrictions, which appeared aimed at mollifying House Republicans, would block health care providers like Planned Parenthood from receiving the funds.

Democratic leaders said they are willing to compromise and predicted that Republicans controlling Congress would soon sue for peace.

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