Florida lawmaker pulls ‘unborn child’ wrongful death bill after Alabama embryo ruling

A bill allowing Floridians to collect civil damages for the wrongful death of an “unborn child” hit a roadblock on Monday, potentially dooming the controversial measure with about two weeks remaining in this year’s legislative session.

State Sen. Erin Grall pulled the measure (SB 476), which critics contended could lead to “fetal personhood,” before an important committee meeting, a move that one anti-abortion group viewed as effectively killing the proposal.

“Although I have worked diligently to respond to questions and concerns, I understand there is still work that needs to be done,” said Grall, R-Vero Beach, the bill’s sponsor. “It is important we get the policy right with an issue of this significance.”

Lawmakers are running out of time to finish their work. Their 60-day session is scheduled to end on March 8.

Andrew Shirvell, executive director of the anti-abortion group Florida Voice for the Unborn, said he doesn’t expect the wrongful death bill to pass in those remaining days.

“I popped right out of my seat when the announcement was made. … It is effectively dead in both chambers for the remainder of the session,” Shirvell said.

The House version of the bill (HB 651) is ready for a vote, but Shirvell said he thinks it doesn’t have a path forward in the Senate after Grall’s decision.

Democrats said the bill would open the door to fetal personhood, a legal concept that a fertilized egg has the same rights as a child. The issue has ignited into a national political firestorm after a ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court last week that frozen embryos are children.

That ruling led to at least three Alabama providers pausing in vitro fertilization treatments.

“‘Fetal personhood’ … diminishes the rights of women and mothers, opening the door for further restriction on abortion and reproductive medicines like IVF,” Senate Democratic Leader Lauren Book, D-Davie, said in a prepared statement. “Thankfully, it appears personhood will not be the law of the land in our state.”

Florida’s proposal doesn’t go as far as Alabama’s stance, defining an unborn child as “a member of the species Homo sapiens, at any stage of development, who is carried in the womb.”

Shirvell urged lawmakers to expand that definition to cover frozen embryos kept outside the womb, which is commonly done as part of IVF.

Supporters argued that expecting parents should be able to collect damages for pain and suffering if negligence results in the death of their unborn child. Opponents countered it would drive up insurance rates for health care providers, worsening a shortage of OB-GYN doctors.

Ahead of the November election, Republican candidates are calling for protections for in vitro fertilization treatments in the wake of the Alabama ruling.

Former President Donald Trump wrote on social media that he supports “the availability of IVF for couples who are trying to have a precious baby.”

In a memo obtained by CBS News, the National Republican Senatorial Committee advised that it is “imperative that our candidates align with the public’s overwhelming support for IVF and fertility treatments.”

In Tallahassee, state Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, said she is “hopeful that (the issue) will not be heard on the House or Senate floor” but added, “anything is possible here.”

Florida lawmakers voted last year to ban most abortions after six weeks. That ban would take effect if the Florida Supreme Court upholds a 15-week ban passed in 2022.

The state Supreme Court is also considering whether to allow a proposed constitutional amendment on Florida’s November ballot that would guarantee access to abortion until viability or “when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s health care provider.”

The amendment would need at least 60% of the vote to pass if it makes the ballot.

The court is charged with evaluating whether a ballot initiative’s summary is clear and deals with a single subject.

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