What is an ectopic pregnancy? GOP rep’s scare sparks Florida law debate

Florida health officials say ectopic pregnancies aren’t abortions and are exempt from restrictions.

Florida Republican Congresswoman Kat Cammack says fear caused by abortion-rights groups delayed the medical care she needed during a life-threatening ectopic pregnancy in May 2024.

Doctors at the emergency room told Cammack she was about five weeks pregnant, but the pregnancy was ectopic and posed a serious risk to her life. (Bloomberg)

Doctors at the emergency room told Cammack she was about five weeks pregnant, but the pregnancy was ectopic and posed a serious risk to her life. There was no heartbeat. Medical staff said she needed a shot of methotrexate to end the pregnancy, but since Florida’s six-week abortion ban had just taken effect, they hesitated. They were afraid they could lose their licenses or face criminal charges.

Cammack says she pulled up the law on her phone to show the staff that her situation was not illegal under state rules. She even tried to contact the governor’s office. After several hours, doctors gave her the medication, as per The Guardian report.

Cammack, who is anti-abortion and co-chairs the House Pro-Life Caucus, told the Wall Street Journal she blames abortion-rights advocates for the delay. She says they have created fear around laws like Florida’s, even though treatment for ectopic pregnancies is legal.

“It was absolute fearmongering at its worst,” Cammack said. She added that abortion rights groups would likely view her story differently and blame the laws, not the messaging.

“There will be some comments like, ‘Well, thank God we have abortion services,’ even though what I went through wasn’t an abortion,” she told the paper.

Florida’s abortion law, which went into effect May 1, 2024, bans abortions after six weeks—before many people know they’re pregnant. For months, doctors said the wording of the law left them unsure whether emergency treatments were allowed. In response, the state’s health agency released guidance clarifying that care is legal if the pregnant person’s life or health is in danger.

Cammack says she wants to help both sides find some agreement

Now pregnant again and due soon, Cammack says she wants to help both sides find some agreement.

“I would stand with any woman – Republican or Democrat – and fight for them to be able to get care in a situation where they are experiencing a miscarriage and an ectopic” pregnancy, she said.

Ectopic pregnancies aren’t abortions

Abortion rights advocates say the law itself creates confusion. Florida health officials say ectopic pregnancies aren’t abortions and are exempt from restrictions. But Molly Duane from the Center for Reproductive Rights told the Journal the law doesn’t clearly define ectopic pregnancies, and those can be hard to diagnose.

Alison Haddock, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians, said early pregnancy care is “medically complicated” and that doctors in abortion-restricted states worry “whether their clinical judgment will stand should there be any prosecution.”