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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 said in a statement to CBS News that her district offices were evacuated due to death threats.
“This is the unacceptable reality we’re facing: sharing a personal health story in an effort to improve healthcare for women and their children can lead to threats, harassment, and evacuation orders,” her statement read.
the U.S. Capitol Police told CBS News in a statement it has a “zero-tolerance policy for threats against the Members of Congress. Our Tampa field office, which was set up to quickly respond to threats in the region, immediately started coordinating with local and federal agencies in the area. We appreciate their partnership as we continue to investigate this case. For safety reasons, we cannot discuss the specifics about our investigations.”
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. The state called claims to the contrary “misinformation.”
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.