While international organizations like the WHO and many governments hurried to declare an international health emergency and prepared to fight back against the epidemic, one group remained invisible, the United States Congress. Republicans minimized the urgency of the crisis and delayed efforts to fund a response. When they did finally put forward a bill, the legislation was empty underneath its wrappings, limiting contraceptive access by preventing key providers, namely Planned Parenthood clinics in Puerto Rico, from being able to receive funds. Although funding for the Zika crisis ultimately passed without this restriction several months later, the total amount provided for the response is still $800 million short of what the White House requested and what top U.S. government health officials recommended, and fails to provide support for UNFPA, leading the multilateral reproductive health response in Zika-affected nations in Latin America and the Caribbean.