A Republican lawmaker in Florida blamed the “fearmongering” left after doctors hesitated to treat her life-threatening ectopic pregnancy due to the state’s strict abortion laws.
In May 2024, the same month Florida’s 6-week abortion ban took effect, Rep. Kat Cammack learned she was experiencing an ectopic pregnancy, a condition in which a fertilized egg implants outside the uterus and cannot survive. She required an injection of methotrexate to terminate the pregnancy, but medical staff hesitated, fearing they could lose their licenses or face prison time under the new law, according to reporting by The Wall Street Journal.
Cammack argued that her pregnancy was nonviable, that she was just five weeks along, and that her life was in danger. She even called Gov. Ron DeSantis’s office for help, but got no response. Eventually, doctors agreed to administer the drug, ultimately saving her life.
Despite the ordeal, Cammack did not blame the law itself, instead accusing the left of scaring medical professionals by emphasizing the risk of criminal charges.
“It was absolute fearmongering at its worst,” Cammack told The Wall Street Journal, adding that abortion-rights advocates are quick to blame Republicans for the confusion caused by what they see as vague legislation.
“There will be some comments like, ‘Well, thank God we have abortion services,’ even though what I went through wasn’t an abortion,” Cammack said.
Molly Duane, a senior attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights, pushed back on Cammack’s claim, arguing that state regulators had made clear their intent to strictly enforce the abortion ban. She added that blaming medical professionals follows “the playbook of antiabortion extremists that for decades have been blaming and villainizing doctors.”
Originally published on Latin Times
