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'Crazy' Florida Bill Could Allow Wrongful Death Lawsuits Over Abortions
‘Crazy’ Florida Bill Could Allow Wrongful Death Lawsuits Over AbortionsRepublican lawmakers in Florida are pushing a bill that would revise the state’s wrongful death law, allowing individuals to sue — and recover monetary damages — over the loss of an “unborn child.”
Critics say the legislation would allow individuals to bring wrongful death lawsuits against doctors who provide abortion care and even friends or relatives who help a woman obtain an abortion — something men have already tried doing in several states that have banned abortion or passed laws granting “personhood” rights to fetuses, embryos, and fertilized eggs.
In Alabama and Arizona, men have sued their ex-partners’ doctors for wrongful death after the doctors provided legal abortions to those women. (The Alabama lawsuit was ultimately dismissed; the Arizona case is ongoing.) In Texas, a man named Marcus Silva is currently suing three of his ex-wife’s friends for wrongful death, alleging they helped her obtain pills to terminate her unwanted pregnancy. Silva is seeking $1 million in damages from each woman. In text messages introduced as part of that case, he allegedly promised to drop the lawsuit if his ex-wife had sex with him.
The Florida bill — titled “Civil Liability for the Wrongful Death of an Unborn Child” — was pre-filed ahead of the 2024 legislative session by state Sen. Erin Grall (R) and state Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka (R), the same lawmakers who sponsored Florida’s six-week abortion ban last year.
If passed, the bill would add “the parents of an unborn child” to the list of people who can recover damages “for mental pain and suffering” and “for medical or funeral expenses” under the state’s existing wrongful death law, which is part of its negligence statute.
Critics say the legislation would allow individuals to bring wrongful death lawsuits against doctors who provide abortion care and even friends or relatives who help a woman obtain an abortion — something men have already tried doing in several states that have banned abortion or passed laws granting “personhood” rights to fetuses, embryos, and fertilized eggs.
In Alabama and Arizona, men have sued their ex-partners’ doctors for wrongful death after the doctors provided legal abortions to those women. (The Alabama lawsuit was ultimately dismissed; the Arizona case is ongoing.) In Texas, a man named Marcus Silva is currently suing three of his ex-wife’s friends for wrongful death, alleging they helped her obtain pills to terminate her unwanted pregnancy. Silva is seeking $1 million in damages from each woman. In text messages introduced as part of that case, he allegedly promised to drop the lawsuit if his ex-wife had sex with him.
The Florida bill — titled “Civil Liability for the Wrongful Death of an Unborn Child” — was pre-filed ahead of the 2024 legislative session by state Sen. Erin Grall (R) and state Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka (R), the same lawmakers who sponsored Florida’s six-week abortion ban last year.
If passed, the bill would add “the parents of an unborn child” to the list of people who can recover damages “for mental pain and suffering” and “for medical or funeral expenses” under the state’s existing wrongful death law, which is part of its negligence statute.
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