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."
For those who don't know people with microcephaly are often referred to as "pinheads" and they have a whole slew of challenges related to the condition such as developmental delays, hearing loss, vision problems, difficulty feeding, and seizures, to name a few.
That is of course if they survive, which those with a severe form of microcephany often do not.
The costs of caring for a child with these problems can be astronomical and typically parents require support from the state and federal governments. (Programs by the way that Rubio and his party are constantly trying to strip of their funding.)
No woman should be asked to carry a child to term if they are diagnosed with this birth defect, nor should any family be burdened with raising such a child unless they have chosen to do so.
Once again I work in the system and deal with children with similar challenges, and I would say that there are really only a very small population of the people out there who are equipped to deal with the problems and obstacles that present themselves when raising a child with such severe special needs.
Perhaps Marco Rubio and his wife would be willing to adopt few of the children born with mircocephany and he can show everybody how it is done.
But we know that will never happen. Don't we?
Keep spouting this crap, goppers -- it just means more votes against you and yours. :D
ReplyDeleteSome people inflict horror upon other people because they think that's what God wants. Those people are sick in the head.
ReplyDeleteNOPE! NO EXCUSE! People are SADisist and use the excuse of GOD with "HE will forgive, repent, on and on in all walks of life -including prisons. FUCK THAT!!! The real HORROR is the IDEA of GODs period!!
DeleteActually Rubio doesn't mention religion or God in the article. Only Gryphen added that in. He should correct his heading because it is misleading.
DeleteRubio just says all human life is protected by our laws.
8:34: maybe not in THAT article, but I read one very similar to this, and he there he DID mention his god!
Delete@anon 8:34am
DeleteYou are incorrect, our laws protect humans AFTER they are born.
9:44, you are incorrect, I don't have an opinion, just quoting Rubio in the article. Try not to be such a moron.
Delete@ 8:34 a.m. But a zygote/embryo/fetus is only potential life for much of a pregnancy; so the no abortion ban is misdirected at best, outright misogyny at worst.
DeleteYou're a "man," little Roooobio.
ReplyDeleteIn other words, BUTT OUT.
Unless someone has adopted a couple of kids, including at least one with special needs, their opinion is not worth much on this issue. It is easy to talk, harder to walk.
ReplyDeleteI saw this on cnn this morning and read it carefully to see if he made any mention of providing support for people forced to give birth to severely handicapped babies. Nope, nothing. He doesn't seem to care about the pain and suffering that the children will experience. Pence holds the same draconian views.
ReplyDeleteLike all of their ilk, politicians like Pence and Rubio only care about children before they are born. After they are born, they have no interest in their lives.
DeleteBeaglemom
For him, there is absolutely NO abortion. Period. Not for severe birth defects, not for rape, not for incest or to save the mother's life. NONE.
DeleteA$$HAT!!! I wonder, what he will say if his wife or daughter would be infected/affected by this...
See Carlin on religious right views: - if you're prebirth, you're fine, if your're pre-school, you're fucked.
DeleteThe Zika babies are a clear message from God that we need to keep abortion safe and legal.
ReplyDeleteUm, WHAT god. Which god?
DeleteSorry, but I see this as only another reason women (and men!) should NOT vote for ANY repube. PERIOD!
I thought is was more like a message from Dow Chemical that we needed to wear more bug dope.
DeleteOr from Mother Nature that we need to stop fucking with the natural balance and poisoning the bed we're lying in.
DeleteI knew this was coming. Not only did the GOP leave town without dealing with this crisis, now they want to force women to bring these babies into the world. From what I've read, these babies are inconsolable and cry all the time.
ReplyDeleteShame on the GOP.
If Rubio et al would spend one hour in the same room with a tragic microcephalic and help the parents give the needed 24/7 care needed, perhaps his argument would have relevance.
ReplyDeleteThe photo you used is endearing, most cases are heartbreakingly grotesque to see and be with. With the usual severe brain damage any semblance of normal human experience will never occur.
See one, touch one, then tell me you thoughts!
C'mon now, if Zika babies are aborted, how will the republicans increase their base?
ReplyDeleteI hope Marco loses big in November. He and the rest of the GOP are sick in the head.
ReplyDelete6:44 is correct. A vote for Pence (through Trump) will result in the same ideology Rubio is spouting. Mike Pence is pro forced-birth.
ReplyDeleteYep. And my guess is Pence REALLY believes in that punish women for aborting that T.Rump accidentally let slip. Remember, Pence so wanted to punish sexually active people that he managed to reduce funding to close down Planned Parenthood in SE INdiana. As a result the HIV rate skyrockets - because he also refused to fund needle exchanges for addicts. And he won't fund methadone clinics or Naloxin either. These guys are just all about the punishment. Oh yeah, his funders are the Kochs and CCA money.
DeleteHard core fanatical Catholics like Rubio rarely talk about it, but they believe that women should be home taking care of kids, not working, keeping quiet, have their heads covered, and should submit to their husbands 100%
ReplyDeleteNo career, no contraceptives, and if you get pregnant and have eclampsia and are about to die, no abortion because white Christian males have the final say in all matters regarding female genitalia and reproductive functions.
Rubio sounds like a Taliban leader, forcing a woman to have a severely deformed, disabled, and hopelessly suffering baby, and then forcing the family to deal with this tragedy when they likely can't afford even the medical costs
All based on the teachings of Paul of Tarsus, a fanatical women hating unethical, hatefully misogynistic Pharisee that had his Iron age tribal ignorance codified and enshrined as 1/2 of the New Testament.
Rubio chooses life; I choose quality of life since the baby and the family caring for the child will be suffering needlessly.
DeleteThese children also place an unnecessary burden on health insurance companies, if the parents are insured, and if not place an extreme burden on our government provided healthcare services.
DeleteThis is not religious piety, it's political opportunism, and always has been for slimy assholes like Marco Rubio
ReplyDeleteAppeal to the ignorant! That is what Rubio trys to do. Rubio is about Rubio!
DeleteSlimy POS!
If the people of Florida reelect this schmuck then, I guess, they deserve him.
ReplyDeleteAs a senator from Florida Rubio should have led the fight to provide funding for Zika research. Instead, silence.
As a senator from Florida Rubio should be leading the charge to help families that will be taking care of children with Zika-borne disabilities. Instead, silence.
As a senator from Florida, Rubio should be in the forefront of the fight to lead the GOP out of the dark ages with regard to climate change research and action. Instead, silence. Florida is likely to lose the most homes and land to rising seawaters by the year 2100 should the problem not be addressed aggressively.
Beaglemom
As a Senator from FloridUH... Well, now we have the Governor of FloriDUH asking for federal emergency monies to handle this issue! I just wish, the Feds would say NOPE! You refused to vote for Federal monies to help prevent this tragedy, now YOU handle it!
DeleteBTW: IF a Zika baby survives for any length outside the womb, the costs are astronomical: $1Million on the low side, and more than $ TEN MILLION on the higher side, if the baby survives for more than a miserable year!
I got called out on FB for "doing what I was told to do and vote for Hillary". This right here is one of the main reasons I will not vote for anyone with an R by their name. This shit heads don't care one bit about life, if they did, they would support the right to choose. It isn't only the babies life that has to be taken into consideration.
ReplyDeleteShari: you are not the only one being called out to 'not think and do what I was told to do'! I am so sickened of FB at this time, that I am taking a sabbatical from it. Might get back in a week, or a month, or never!
Delete9:36: I have with many. But some are posting in a couple of groups that I am a member in, and I do not want to quit those groups.
Delete@8:25
DeleteThat's a good idea, but before you drop them, make certain you blast them for their ignorance as they have blasted you.
I left FB completely when there was that initial hate pouring out about Obama. Remember when that drawing of him came out with a Hitler mustache? I blasted those who DID it and blasted the others for not vociferously complaining about it.
I find those in the Republican party to be total jerks and would never vote for any of their candidates...
DeleteDonald Trump was their worst mistake in having him as their candidate for POTUS.
Lisa Murkowski is up for reelection in Alaska and is a 'do nothing' member of our current U.S.Congress! She has come out in support of The Don - go figure!!!
I sincerely hope that John McCain loses his reelection bid in AZ. It's time he retired too.
Our Congress members sorely need to have term limits. Plus, they NEVER represent the folks that elect them once they get there.
The Republican party is supporting Murkowski currently with many, many ads - they are spending money like there is no tomorrow to try and keep her in office.
Hopefully, Alaska will turn blue in November and get rid of the majority Republicans in Congress and the Alaska State Legislature.
WE BADLY NEED A CHANGE. The Republicans ran us into our current deficits.
Also, Eagle River needs to vote out Anna Fairclough (Republican), who is in the Alaska Legislature and is in charge of one of the Committees that has spent our money! She's also married now - to a guy in Juneau! Does she actually live with him in Juneau or in Eagle River?
Vote for Hillary Clinton! I AM!
DeleteShe will make an outstanding POTUS in spite of all the negative that has, and is, constantly been put out there about her for years - mostly by the Republicans!
I find her to be experienced, knowledgeable, pleasant, calm and more qualified than ANY candidate in the running. She will be able to walk into the White House take the reigns of our government.
She has my support and trust. Plus, I've already donated to her campaign.
This crisis may actually help the pro-choice cause.
ReplyDeletePeople never think they or their daughters will have an unwanted pregnancy and if they do well they should be punished for having sex.
Being faced with a Down Syndrome child is usually associated with an older mother and that can be prevented. It's not really an immediate threat to most of us (or doesn't feel like it) Plus many Down Syndrome children live somewhat productive lives (with proper therapy).
But this - the possibility of being bitten by a mosquito when pregnant or your husband being bitten and transmitting it to you when pregnant. That is real and that is a threat everyone is at risk at. Now it's personal.
There is a very real risk people for everyday people, not just the sinners or poor.
We may see a change of heart of a lot of voters regarding someone that touts no abortion EVAR
I think you have a very valid point. This is something that can affect ANYONE, even those who profess to lead exemplary, holier-than-thou lives and would NEVER face an unexpected or unwanted pregnancy (at least that they would admit to).
DeleteIn addition, the symptoms of microcephaly can be severe, and decimate the lives of the families facing this heartwrenching disability.
- shortened life span
- mild to severe developmental delays and cognitive impairment
- seizures
- problems with vision and hearing
- problems with speech
- problems with feeding due to impaired ability to suck and swallow
- problems with moving and controlling arms and legs and inability to walk
- problems with balance
- short stature
- high pitched cry and inability to be soothed
- hyperactivity
For those children who survive to adulthood, the astronomical costs associated for caring for them will increase significantly once they reach the age of 21 and can no longer receive services from their school district. Even those with minimal cognitive impairment may be unable to live independently, and require care and supervision for the rest of their lives.
Those with more severe cases may die in infancy or childhood and need round-the-clock care for their most basic needs. Parents who are faced with the overwhelming needs of a microcephalic infant often don't have the time or energy to properly care for any other children they may have or even to care for themselves.
It can be a short, painful life for the affected child, the parent, and any siblings in the family. But, sure, let's preserve the 'sanctity of life' without ever considering the QUALITY of life that the entire family will have as a result of these theocrats' arrogant pronouncements.
Don't blame Lil Marco for his lack of empathy.
ReplyDeleteIn the Conservative mindset, compassion - like love or S&H Green Stamps - are a fixed and limited resource.
In that view, if you waste your compassion on someone elses' misfortune you risk a possible future compassion deficit in the event Jeebus chooses you or your immediate family for some misfortune of your own.
Better, then, to hoard your compassion, empathy, love and Green Stamps for your own benefit, as is commanded in the Bible somewhere in the Book of Endometriosis.
Naturally, if Mrs. Lil Marco was facing a prenatal microcephaly diagnosis, it's entirely plausible that "a very, very difficult, regrettable and ultimately compassionate" choice could be considered if not quietly and privately pursued. That's just how Xtian Right Wingers roll.
NO one has the right to dictate what a woman does with her body!
ReplyDeletePeople don't care for this description, but a fetus is little more than a parasite until birth. Try telling a man he cannot decide to separate from a parasite.
On the other side of the coin, what about the suffering of a severely microcephalic? How do any of us know they are not suffering the tortures of Rubio's hell?
For families who will be financially crushed by a lifetime of special needs care, Rubio is ensuring public assistance will rise.
ReplyDeleteMarco is canny enough to realize that in the not too distant future the only votes he can hope to get will be from people with small, malformed brains. He's hoping the Zika kids will be future republicans.
ReplyDeleteI so disagree with Rubio in this matter. I don't know why it is that Republican, white men constantly try to rule what a woman can do with 'her' body!
ReplyDeleteScrew them ladies - beginning with the little Florida boy!
Remember too, that Rubio is not in control of the matter! Women can receive abortions if carrying a child (Zika) countrywide and should if so desired!
The federal law has not been changed as to abortions - it is STILL legal to have one!
Republicans have added various amendments to the law in some states that are currently being ruled against by state Courts!
No man should ever control what a woman does with her body!
It's not just "Republican white men" telling women what to do with their bodies.
DeleteIn case you didn't notice, Rubio is Cuban and there are quite a few black male Republicans that will tell you what to do with your body as well. Herman Cain? Ben Carson?
There are even a multitude of Republican women, white, black, red and brown that will legislate what you can and can't do with your person.
Don't blame this all on white men.
Think you are correct to a point, 10:12 AM.
DeletePlease look at the majority currently sitting in our Republican majority - United States Congress. You will find that MOST of them are white males that insist on governing women's rights! Pull up their voting records while you are at it!
Imperative that voters across the nation get as many as possible out of office as they come up for reelection.
Many of them do not represent the people that put them in office long ago. We need younger, multi religion and multi cultured replacements soon that LISTEN!
You are incorrect 9:03. Since Zika is usually not diagnosable until quite late in the pregnancy, for those women in states with illegal 20 week limits, abortion is not a legal option.
DeleteThe number of elected ReTHUG women has been trending down for years (Dem women trending up, BTW)
DeleteAccording to Marco Rubio's quoted words: … in the context of Zika or any prenatal condition, it’s a difficult question and a hard one
ReplyDeleteHe then proceeds to give a simplistic, nuance-free, one-size-fits-all answer: bring the microcephalic fetus into the world regardless of circumstances, because somehow his god will make everything right. In the religious environment I grew up in this would be called "testing the Lord." Over the centuries, testing the Lord has been generally considered a sin. Repent, Marco!
"According to Marco Rubio's quoted words: … 'in the context of Zika or any prenatal condition, it’s a difficult question and a hard one'"
DeleteAnd his answer is the exact opposite of what the party supposedly believes - that the individual has the right to make such a choice, not him and certainly not the government.
At some point, deciding not to bring a severely deformed child into the world should be looked at as being merciful. Especially when the deformity is n the brain, when the deformity keeps the brain from developing.
It is monstrous to think anybody has the right to tell a woman, or a couple (which most often this will be - it will be couples who want to have a child to raise and who they had all the hopes in the world for) that they MUST bear and raise such a child if their doctor gives them the worst news that they could possibly ever get in their lives.
And these clowns want to repeal Obamacare and defund Planned Parenthood. I cannot facepalm enough.
I say fuck the Republican men in our U.S. Congress. They are an insult to this nation and very much anti women! Do not reelect them voters!
DeleteMove the majority Republicans out of our U.S.Congress and the Alaska State Legislature!
They get away with it because of gerrymandering.
DeleteThey always insist on forcing a woman to carry a baby to term, even when it means that the baby will suffer all during the time it's alive. And by suffer, I mean the basic kind of suffering: pain. Even if these idiots can rationalize some things, like the fact that a child will need a feeding tube forever or something like that, there are certain situations that are about constant pain and a baby/child can't even sleep because of it. There is no one more cruel and inhumane than pro-lifers who insist on making some children live a life of constant suffering.
ReplyDeleteIf I were pregnant with a Zika fetus, I would abort in a heartbeat! Would not give it a second thought.
DeleteA baby like that would lead a horrendous life if brought into the world. Many could not afford the care and treatment a baby like that would require!
Thank you for bringing this point to the forefront. Too many of these asshole politicians and religious nuts try to make it about the mother.
DeleteA friend experienced a pregnancy in the 1980s that she aborted at 5 months because of microcephaly. She never looked back, it was the right thing to do. The baby essentially had no brain. Why would anyone expect a woman to carry to full term a fetus in this condition? It is straight-up sadism. She was judged harshly nonetheless. A church in my community harshly judged an infertile woman who had to decide how many fetuses she would carry to term, because she allowed some to die. Nobody should have a right to block anyone else's decisions regarding reproductive choices. An fetus has no rights. Vote only for pro-choice candidates. Biology is not destiny.
DeleteOMG I am horrified. And to think we were fed years ago that doing drugs would change our DNA. Zika is beyond belief and the babies born with half a head/brain are there for the gawking as in carnival side shows. Rubio needs an attitude adjustment...and fast.
ReplyDeleteTHIS KID;-)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.rawstory.com/2016/08/muslim-teen-arrested-last-year-over-clock-sues-texas-school-district/
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/local-news/20160808-irving-clock-boy-s-father-sues-city-school-district-principal-for-blatant-disregard-of-civil-rights.ece?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link&ICID=ref_fark
DeleteYou just KNOW they are itching to prosecute any families that self-terminate a zika fetus.
ReplyDeleteYou.
Just.
Know.
People should ask Rubio now how he plans to provide for these children.
ReplyDeleteI want to know where the money is coming from, Marco. I want to know that you and your pro life values will support these families and KIDS from birth till death.
People should demand a plan from him.
This all brings to mind the case in 1962 involving Sherri Finkbine of Arizona, pregnant and who had taken Thalidomide, recently linked to severe birth defects. She tried to obtain a legal abortion but her claim was dismissed by a judge unwilling to get involved in such a decision.
ReplyDeleteSo, she went to Sweden to have the abortion which showed that the fetus was badly deformed. It was a case that brought much publicity and it sparked the abortion reform movement.
Unlike the current pregnant Zika sufferers facing possible birth defects, Finkbine was able to afford to go to Sweden for her abortion. With people like Rubio and other anti-choice zealots characterizing those who might choose abortion rather than bring a severely disabled child into the world as evil sinners, we seem to be revisiting the Finkbine scenario from over fifty years ago.
Read about it HERE
Is there any law that says a woman forced to bring to term a Zika baby can't refuse it, give it up to the "government", make it their responsibility?
DeleteThat is exactly what I would do. If I'm going to be treated as an incubator than that is what I'll be. Then the GOP hypocrites can have the baby and raise it on their dime. By all means, use some of that bloated military budget to pay for it.
I'm going to drown it the moment I'm forced to birth it. Oops, poor little toilet baby done died...
DeleteThey won't raise it. They'll create a corporation like CCA, but for kids with birth defects. (Remember, Newt wanted to create "work houses" for the children of the poor?) THen, we'll find that it is full of abuse and a HUGE profit goes to the stockholders. ReTHUGS would see this as a profit opportunity.
Delete
ReplyDelete"But if I’m going to err, I’m going to err on the side of life."
Please. You're erring on the side of the theocrat money that's propping up your lazy ass, Marco.
This is so going to help him get re-elected.
ReplyDeleteEspecially after he abandoned his constituents and his job to run for president, saying he was not going to seek re-election.
Just another lying POS Republican that hates women and wants government small enough to stick up your uterus.
Okay, just saw that baby photo and I actually yelped verbally! Really they can live with that? Holy crap.
ReplyDeleteHow about you guys keeping your nose out of women's issues and go sniff some ripe man butt. Seriously, will Rubio pay for the lifetime of care and grief for someone else's kid? How much are you worth, and how much can you raise for "child support"? Plus compensation for pain and suffering and risk in bearing kids for the mothers.
ReplyDeleteYou got a wittle willie to play with, if women need your advice, they'll ask. Oh and Fuck You, and not in a good way.
No, not 'cause god. Cause his particular Roman Catholic interpretation of God.
ReplyDeleteBit underneath, it's not really any god at all - it's just his vicious misogyny and projection. He's miserable even with all his "stuff" mortgaged to the hilt though he is to get it. He wants everyone else to be more miserable so he can finally feel good.