Republican Kat Cammack's Pregnancy Care Issues Blamed On The Left
Republican Congressperson Kat Cammack is making headlines for blaming her doctors' reluctance to end her life-threatening pregnancy on Democrats.
Yes, you read that correctly. In a new interview with the Wall Street Journal, Kat recalled experiencing an ectopic pregnancy last year, shortly after Florida's six-week abortion ban went into effect.
She was about five weeks pregnant, the embryo had no heartbeat, and a doctor told her she could die. Even so, Kat says the hospital staff hesitated to expel the pregnancy as they were afraid of prosecution. She argued for hours and even tried calling Governor Ron DeSantis's office; in the end, they agreed to give her the shot of methotrexate she needed.
In a remarkable display of cognitive dissonance, the lawmaker blamed liberal "fearmongering" for her issues at the hospital, suggesting the left's messaging around abortion bans ultimately made doctors paranoid (but apparently not the heavy consequences that come with breaking the abortion bans).
The fall of Roe v. Wade paved the way for abortion bans and restrictions in states throughout the US, with disastrous consequences. According to the Center of Reproductive Rights, people are experiencing delayed or denied care because providers fear severe penalties. In Florida, doctors can face felony charges, five years in prison, and up to a $5K fine for performing the procedure. In Texas, it's even harsher, with doctors facing felony charges, life in prison, and a $100K fine. In both states, they can also lose their medical licenses.
Amber Thurman. Josseli Barnica. Nevaeh Crain. These are the names of some of the women who've died in red states due to delayed care under abortion bans in recent years. I'm obviously not a doctor, but it seems like their deaths might've been prevented if not for the criminalization of abortion care. Amber's doctors waited 19 hours. Josseli's waited 40. Nevaeh visited the emergency room three times. To think that we had the knowledge and technology to save these women, but the doctors felt their hands were tied by the state.
As a woman who lives in Texas, I'm always heartbroken by the news of any person dying due to the draconian abortion laws here. According to the Gender Equity Policy Institute, Texas has the highest number of maternal deaths in the US (and the rates are significantly worse for Black women). Before any conservatives ask if that's simply because Texas is the second-most populated state, California has the largest population but the lowest maternal mortality rate in the country. I wonder why.
In addition to horrific loss of life, abortion bans have impacted healthcare in myriad other ways. Some OB-GYNs have left red states altogether. The number of med school graduates applying for OB-GYN residencies in states with abortion bans has decreased. Abortion bans are also worsening maternity care deserts.
So, I struggle to sympathize with Kat Cammack. Instead of empathizing with all people who might want or need abortions, she remains a co-chair of the House Pro-Life Caucus. "How can that be?" you might ask. Well, in true Republican fashion, she decided that her situation was special. Kat told the Wall Street Journal, "There will be some comments like, 'Well, thank God we have abortion services,' even though what I went through wasn't an abortion."
I don't care if she insists on calling the procedure any other name. The fact of the matter is Kat needed to end her pregnancy — just like so many other people do in this country, for any number of reasons — and an abortion ban interfered with her care. It's astounding to me that she's chosen to fight only for people "experiencing a miscarriage and an ectopic" like she did rather than criticizing the abortion bans themselves.
Until she decides to fight for all people's abortion rights, I find her words as outrageous and reprehensible as this administration. Do better, Kat.
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Florida Rep. Kat Cammack says her office was evacuated due to death threats
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Florida Rep. Kat Cammack says her office was evacuated due to death threats
Rep. Kat Cammack said late Wednesday her offices were evacuated due to "imminent death threats" against her and her family. The Florida Republican said on X the threats began after a recent Wall Street Journal story about her experience with an ectopic pregnancy last year. She told the paper that emergency room doctors were hesitant to treat the life-threatening complication because they were worried about running afoul of Florida's strict six-week abortion ban — an incident she blamed on "fearmongering" by opponents of the state law. "Since then, we've [received] thousands of hate-filled messages and dozens of credible threats from pro-abortion activists, which law enforcement is actively investigating," Cammack wrote in her post, which also included screenshots of several social media comments. Cammack added on X, "To those spreading misinformation: I did not vote for Florida's heartbeat law; I serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, not the Florida Legislature." Cammack's post did not specify which congressional offices were evacuated. CBS News has reached out to her office and the U.S. Capitol Police for more details. Concerns about medical treatment for pregnancy complications — including ectopic pregnancies — have spiked since 2022, when the reversal of Roe v. Wade led dozens of states to ban or heavily restrict abortion. State-level abortion bans generally allow for exceptions when a mother's life is at risk. And officials in Florida and other states say terminating an ectopic pregnancy — a condition in which an embryo implants outside the uterus — is not considered an abortion. But critics argue confusion about those exceptions has put patients at risk, as medical providers may be wary of taking action that could later be found to violate their state's abortion ban. Florida state regulators issued a notice last year that said "abortion is permissible at any stage of pregnancy in Florida to save the life and health of the mother," including for women with ectopic pregnancies. Meanwhile, threats against members of Congress, judges, prosecutors and other public officials have grown in recent years, federal law enforcement agencies say. The Capitol Police said it investigated 9,474 "concerning statements and direct threats" last year against lawmakers, their families and their staff.
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