Florida senator Marco Rubio has said women infected with the Zika virus should not be allowed to have abortions, even if their babies have microcephaly, the severe developmental disorder than can result from infection with the disease.

“If I’m going to err, I’m going to err on the side of life,” the Republican told Politico. Rubio, who has championed Zika funding bills in the Senate, also blamed Democrats for the failure to pass such federal aid.

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) figures, Florida is the state second-worst affected by Zika, after New York, but is the only state to have infections caused by local mosquitoes. Most Zika cases in the US have been found in people who travelled to affected countries and territories.

On Sunday, the Florida governor, Rick Scott, told NBC that despite his state having identified 16 cases of mosquito-borne Zika infections, “what we’re doing is working.”

Scott also called for increased federal aid, in addition to the several million Barack Obama has released in existing grants. On Friday, the federal Food and Drug Administration cleared a private company to release genetically altered mosquitoes which could help the fight against Zika on an island in the Florida Keys. The project will be subject to a local referendum in November.

Rubio ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination and only recently decided to run for re-election rather than give up public life. During the presidential campaign, he said he was opposed to abortion in all instances, including in cases of rape or incest.

“I understand a lot of people disagree with my view – but I believe that all human life is worthy of protection of our laws,” he said on Saturday. “And when you present it in the context of Zika or any prenatal condition, it’s a difficult question and a hard one. But if I’m going to err, I’m going to err on the side of life.”

In the Senate, Rubio has supported the provision of funding for work against Zika. In May, after a $1.1bn funding measure he sponsored passed the Senate, he cited an estimate from the CDC director, Tom Frieden, that the lifetime cost of caring for a child born with microcephaly could reach $10m.

“We’re going to be dealing with Zika for multiple years,” Rubio said. “Outside of the human cost is the economic cost of this. We’re going to be spending money on Zika for the foreseeable future.”

On Saturday, he added: “Obviously, microcephaly is a terrible prenatal condition that kids are born with. And when they are, it’s a lifetime of difficulties. So I get it.

“I’m not pretending to you that that’s an easy question you asked me. But I’m pro-life. And I’m strongly pro-life. I believe all human life should be protected by our law, irrespective of the circumstances or condition of that life.”

Obama asked Congress for $1.9bn of funding, which was blocked in the Senate in June. House Republicans had appended unrelated provisions to the bill – involving, for instance, abortion restrictions and the Confederate flag – and Senate Democrats refused to pass it in its altered form.

Rubio blamed the failure to pass any anti-Zika funding on Democrats, who have blamed Republicans for inserting such “poison pill” clauses into the relevant bill. One such clause had a measure to defund Planned Parenthood, the women’s health provider and a frequent target of anti-abortion campaigners.

“The Planned Parenthood angle is something they basically made up to have a political reason not to pass Zika so they can come back in August and campaign on it,” Rubio said. “That’s what I mean by political volleyball. Both sides have played that game. I would have preferred the House just passed a clean funding bill and I’ll vote for that if it comes out.”

On NBC, Scott was asked if it was now safe to travel to Wynwood, the Miami neighbourhood in which mosquito-borne Zika has been found.

“Absolutely,” he said. “I was there on Thursday … we are doing a very good job working to get rid of the mosquitoes. Our department of health at the local level is doing a very good job. We have 16 cases – we’ve been able to reduce the area we had a concern about by 10 blocks on Friday, so we’re working on it.

“Everybody pregnant has the option for a test if they want it; we’re picking everybody up. What we’re doing is working.”

The CDC has warned pregnant women and their partners not to travel to Wynwood, and advised those who live there to try to prevent mosquito bites, wear a condom, and be tested for infection. Couples trying to get pregnant should also avoid the area, the health officials said.

Scott was also asked about criticism he has received over a 40% cut to the state’s mosquito control budget in 2011.

“What we’ve done is allocate the dollars better,” he said. “We reduced some funding originally but we dramatically increased the funding over the last five, six years I’ve been in office. We have a very good mosquito board. I’ve allocated $26.2m of state funding.”

As of Friday, Florida officials had released only $1.9m of those funds, according to documents acquired by the Miami Herald.

“The feds need to become a partner,” Scott continued, saying he had asked Frieden “for 10,000 more Zika preparedness kits. We still need the federal government to show up. The president and Congress still need to work together. This is a national, federal issue, not just a Florida issue.”