The Florida House has passed a bill that would extend provisions of personal injury laws to the unborn, allowing surviving family members to seek compensation for negligence.
The chamber passed the measure (HB 1517) on Wednesday by a vote of 79-32 after a lengthy debate.
On Thursday, the Senate Appropriations Committee on Criminal and Civil Justice advanced a companion bill (SB 1284). It was sent to the Rules Committee but it was not on a schedule as of Thursday.
In both versions, an “unborn” person is defined as a member of the Homo sapiens species in any stage of development who is carried in the womb.
The bill would allow juries to award monetary damages for the wages a fetus would have earned, according to the bill's sponsor.
Supporters describe the proposal as support for new parents or vulnerable families.
However, opponents say the law and others across the country are pushing measures to enshrine the rights of the “unborn,” with the goal of ending abortion nationwide.
Sponsoring Republican Sen. Erin Grall told her colleagues the measure “is not about abortion."
"To me this is about parity in our civil justice system,” Grall said.
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Florida considered a similar wrongful death measure last year, but it failed amid concerns about an Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos can be considered children under state law.
In vitro fertilization services stopped in Alabama until that state's governor signed a law to protect them — a step taken in other GOP-controlled states.
Concerns about IVF services still linger among some lawmakers in Tallahassee.
Democratic state Rep. Allison Tant took to the House floor to debate against the bill, which she says “imperils” the fertility services that made her a mom.
“IVF pregnancies are inherently fragile and risky,” Tant said. “We are going to see lawsuits like we’ve never seen."
Republican Sen. Tom Leek voted against the bill in a previous committee after raising concerns about the measure potentially “being weaponized against women who lose a child.”
However, the proposal specifies that it does not authorize a cause of action against a mother for the death of her unborn child, or against a health care worker if they provided “lawful” medical care.
Reproductive rights advocates in Florida also worry that wrongful death lawsuits could target health care providers who offer abortions, family and friends who help a loved one obtain an abortion, or fertility clinics whose clients experience a miscarriage.
The fear of legal action could push more OB-GYNs to avoid taking on high-risk patients or stop practicing in Florida entirely, a lobbyist for a medical malpractice insurance company has argued.
“There is a serious concern that there are other motivations here behind this bill, specifically with respect to abortion, with respect to potentially IVF in the future,” said Democratic Sen. Tina Polsky. “This is setting a new base for future issues, for future liability, for future bans. And it’s incredibly concerning.”