Everything is our fault.

A Florida Republican congresswoman is blaming fearmongering on the left for the reluctance of hospital staff to give her the drugs she needed to end an ectopic pregnancy that threatened her life.

Kat Cammack went to the emergency room in May 2024 where it was estimated she was five weeks into an ectopic pregnancy, there was no heartbeat and her life was at risk. Doctors determined she needed a shot of methotrexate to help expel her pregnancy but since Florida’s six-week abortion ban had just taken effect medical staff were worried about losing their licenses or going to jail if they did.

While Cammack risked losing her life. Remember Savita Halappanavar?

Cammack looked up the state law on her phone to show staff and even attempted to contact the governor’s office. Hours later, doctors eventually agreed to give her the medication.

Good thing she survived those hours.

Abortion rights activists say the law created problems. Florida regulators say ectopic pregnancies are not abortions and are exempt from restrictions, but Molly Duane, with the Center for Reproductive Rights, told the Wall Street Journal the law does not define ectopic pregnancy, which can be difficult to diagnose.

Which means that medical staff are always going to be afraid to do what’s necessary.

Cammack, who opposes abortion and co-chairs the House pro-life caucus, told the Wall Street Journal she blames messaging from pro-choice groups for delaying her treatment, which is not banned under Florida’s restrictive statutes, who have created fear of criminal charges.

Oh right. It’s our fault either way. That’s fair.

Florida’s strict abortion ban, which took effect on 1 May 2024, makes abortions illegal after six weeks, when most people are not even aware yet that they are pregnant.

Oh god damn it Guardian can you not drop the dogma for even one article about a woman whose life was at risk thanks to laws she herself endorses? “People” don’t get pregnant; women get pregnant. Men never ever get pregnant.

No of course it can’t: it does it again in the very next paragraph.

After months in which medical staff were concerned that the law’s wording made emergency procedures illegal, the state’s healthcare agency issued official guidance to “address misinformation” on permitting an abortion in instances where the pregnant person’s life and health are in danger.

It’s because they are women that their lives are in danger. You know this.