A House committee on Wednesday approved a controversial measure that would allow parents to file civil lawsuits seeking damages for the wrongful death of an “unborn child,” with critics of the bill saying it is too broad and could shrink the number of doctors who deliver babies in Florida.
The proposal, now ready to go to the full House, would add “unborn child” to a law that allows family members to seek damages when a person’s death is caused by such things as wrongful acts or negligence.
The bill (HB 651) has drawn intense pushback from abortion-rights advocates, who argue the proposed changes could put abortion providers and people who help women obtain abortions at risk of being sued.
The House and Senate bill sponsors also led efforts last year to pass a law that seeks to ban abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. But the sponsors maintain that this year’s bill is not abortion-related.
“We are talking about human beings. We are talking about the human experience, the experience of the parents who have suffered a real loss. We are saying they have the right to seek recovery in our court system,” House sponsor Jenna Persons-Mulicka, R-Fort Myers, said before the House Judiciary Committee approved the bill Wednesday.
But Rep. Yvonne Hinson, D-Gainesville, said the proposal would have a chilling effect on doctors and women who might want abortions.
“The most dangerous 60 days in the state of Florida is the legislative session. We are creating fear in the hearts and minds of the people in Florida. I am so tired of it. If you really want to stop abortions, get a vasectomy,” she said.
Mark Delegal, a lobbyist who represents The Doctors Company, said his client is the largest insurer of physicians in the state and the nation. Florida already has the highest medical-malpractice insurance rates for obstetricians and gynecologists in the country, according to Delegal. Obstetricians in Miami pay about $226,000 a year in premiums, compared to $49,000 in Los Angeles, he said.
Also, Delegal argued that the proposed changes would worsen a shortage of OB/GYNs in the state.
“We have concerns and oppose this bill because it expands liability for health care providers, and that’s why we object to it,” he said.
The proposal has come as the Florida Supreme Court weighs whether a proposed constitutional amendment aimed at protecting abortion rights meets legal requirements to go before voters in November. The court has until April 1 to decide on the issue.
Supporters launched the ballot initiative after the Republican-controlled Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis approved the six-week abortion bill. The six-week ban would go into effect if the Florida Supreme Court upholds a 2022 law that restricts abortions after 15 weeks.
The Judiciary Committee voted 15-4 along party lines Wednesday to approve the bill about wrongful-death lawsuits. Under the bill, mothers could not be sued. But opponents contended the measure would open the door for rapists or men who have one-night-stands with women to seek damages against health care providers.
“The latest Republican bill attacking abortion in Florida is extremely dangerous and would have major legal consequences,” Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Nikki Fried said in a statement. “The potential misuses are staggering — purposefully broad language could help abusers weaponize the judicial system to harass and punish their pregnant partners with costly civil lawsuits.”
Florida is one of a handful of states that do not allow civil damages for the loss of an unborn child, Persons-Mulicka argued. Under a change adopted by the committee Wednesday, the bill would define an unborn child as “a member of the species Homo sapiens, at any stage of development, who is carried in the womb.”
The majority of other states with wrongful-death laws that cover pregnancy loss, however, only allow recovery after the fetus has reached viability, according to a legislative analysis of the bill.
The change was added to the House bill after the Alabama Supreme Court on Friday ruled that frozen embryos created through in vitro fertilization are considered children.
Rep. Dotie Joseph, a North Miami Democrat who is a lawyer, said the Florida bill could have a “chilling effect” for people seeking in vitro fertilization. Joseph also pointed to a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion decision and left abortion rights up to states.
“What is the impact on actual human beings? We are seeing so many negative impacts on real-life women and the consequences of these foolhardy, partisan-driven policies,” Joseph said. “There is a disconnect between the intention and the impact, and the impact is overall negative.”
Some Republicans also expressed concerns about the bill.
Rep. Paula Stark, R-St. Cloud, called the measure “way too broad.” While Stark supported the bill Wednesday, she said she would vote against it on the House floor unless it was more restrictive.
But Persons-Mulicka pushed back.
“You know that I’m not afraid to shy away from a discussion about abortion or the value of life or the overarching theme of personhood,” she said. “But none of that is what this bill is about. It’s very narrow in nature. It’s about the mother. It’s about the father. It’s about the value of the life of an unborn child to them, and it’s about a real loss … that was caused by the wrongdoing of another person.”
Florida criminal law includes penalties for illegal killing of an unborn child, but the law includes exceptions for abortion. Democrats have urged Persons-Mulicka to amend her bill to mirror the criminal law.
Committee Chairman Tommy Gregory, R-Lakewood Ranch, said people who commit abortion-related wrongdoing should be held responsible.
“If you commit a negligent act or you commit a wrongful act, you should be liable. We are protecting the very most vulnerable and those that should be able to recover, under those situations,” he said.
But Kara Gross, legislative director and senior policy counsel for the ACLU of Florida, argued that the bill “is not about helping grieving families” for pregnancy loss.
“This deceptive bill is about making it even harder for Floridians to access the abortion care that they need,” she said.
Persons-Mulicka, however, accused opponents of “misplaced fear.”
“I agree there’s been a lot of talk of fear, but that’s fear-mongering,” she said. “What liability are they trying to escape? … We’re talking about wrongdoing and harm and we’re talking about human beings.”
A similar Senate bill, sponsored by Sen. Erin Grall, R-Vero Beach, needs to clear one more committee before it could go to the full Senate.
–Dara Kam, News Service of Florida
Deirdre says
It might be easier to just sterilize women, which is probably coming next. Nothing would surprise me anymore with these religious extremists, who apparently have the power to ruin peoples lives by passing laws that go against human decency, especially for women.
America has become a worldwide embarrassment, a once progressive nation that has taken a backwards turn to the extreme by passing laws that are nothing short of cruel.
Embryos shouldn’t have more rights than actual people who were born on earth and live outside of a womb.
Could they focus on taking human rights away from men for change? Rich white guys maybe? We all know that’s never going to happen, but maybe we could pass laws that make sex of any kind (not just gay sex!) illegal unless it’s for procreation, and assuming the couple can provide proof they may not be arrested.
I wish I was joking, I would never have believed a small group of people would be willing and able to destroy other people’s lives, the lives of strangers, especially the lives of women, with their personal philosophies.
Deborah Coffey says
And, the devil is having a hay day with all these so-called “christians.” Did they ever care about all the dead first graders in Sandy Hook? What about the dead teenagers at Parkland High School? No, they didn’t. In fact they’ve put more guns in the hands of youngsters in Florida. But, they DO care about something that can only be seen in a petri dish with a microscope. America had better stop them…and soon.
Pogo says
@The elected Republicans of Florida
…are literally governing our lives with a high school play version of Blazing Saddles.
For comparison — you decide
https://www.google.com/search?q=blazing+saddles
A Concerned Observer says
I read a tong-in-cheek commentary several years ago, ostensibly comedically attributed to the Catholic Church, was their determination as to when life begins. Many suggested yardsticks were based upon how long after conception did life begin, varying from weeks to months after sex. The comedic position was offered as life begins after the man or woman consumed their second drink.
Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulickas position that “frozen embryos created through in vitro fertilization are considered children” is even more absurd. So, following that legal opinion to its next logical level, will a company that loses a quantity of frozen embryos collected from a woman be legally charged with mass murder? Would it rise to the level of genocide? Not only does the author of this bill (or supporters thereof) have a hole in their head, but when the wind blows, they hear flute’s!
Sherry says
Sheer Lunacy! Just like Alabama!
Jackson says
The dog has caught the car and now doesn’t know what to do. They can scramble all the want but this was on of the goals to begin with. They’ve been pushing fetal personhood bills (one is advancing in Florida right now — that’s pretty much the same thing with different language).
They’ve already gone after mifepristone (even though it’s proven to be safe) next their going to try to revers Griswold which explicitly stated that a woman had a right to get birth control. The Griswold decision also codified a right to privacy as a constitutional right. If they succeed in getting Griswold overturned (and the MAGAs on SCOTUS would most likely overturn it). That means that everyone would no longer have a right to privacy in their own homes or anywhere. That’s the goal here. They say they’re for limited government, but they’re not. They want the government to dictate what you can and cannot do.
I remember when Dobbs overturned Roe that conservatives and MAGAs said that everyone was being alarmist about that decision being a slippery slope. Well, we’re about to go over that slope…
Laurel says
Republicans and MAGAs are two different species. Good Republicans are leaving their positions, while the self absorbed MAGA aholes continue on. Trump threatens those who disagree with him like a mob boss, which I imagine he learned from directly. Those who are not scared are frustrated with the lack of real governing across the isle like most Americans want. We now have the largest group of Independents this country has seen.
Yes, this is very much an embarrassment as the world watches our intelligence and honor decline.