I am a part of a team caring for patients in Lawrence. Many in this community often visit areas heavily affected by Zika to see family and friends. For our community, Zika is more than an abstract budget line — it is a real threat. Last week Congress failed, yet again, to pass an emergency measure to obtain essential funding to respond to the Zika crisis.

Congress’s lack of action is inexcusable. Not only has neither chamber requested an amount of money necessary to fund an adequate response to Zika, but the most recent attempt at a funding bill included a number of unnecessary provisions that otherwise threatened access to care and resulted in a congressional stalemate.

Shame on Congress, particularly Republican leadership, which recklessly added the political provisions to the most recent bill, for failing to produce an emergency measure to fund efforts to control and respond to this health crisis. If members of Congress don’t step up and do their job, we are likely to see the impact of their negligence in our communities — infection, increased congenital malformations, and even death.

Dr. Alison Case, Methuen