(C) Florida Phoenix This story was originally published by Florida Phoenix and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Abortion-rights advocates slam bill establishing personhood at conception in wrongful death suits [1] ['Jackie Llanos', 'More From Author', '- February'] Date: 2024-02-15 Abortion-rights advocates say the definition of “unborn child” in a wrongful death bill moving through the Florida Legislature could interfere with the effort to enshrine access to the procedure in the state constitution. Expecting parents would be able to collect damages in a wrongful death suit regardless of whether the fetus could survive outside of the womb, under GOP proposals from Sen. Erin Grall and Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka. But an amendment to SB 476 would establish personhood at conception, which abortion-rights groups say could further restrict reproductive freedom. “This is a very dangerous amendment, which seeks to establish fetal personhood and potentially ban all abortions in Florida, endangers the rights and autonomy of pregnant individuals. It also subverts the efforts of all of us who are working so hard to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot in November,” said Barbara DeVane, a lobbyist with the Florida National Organization for Women. The two Republican lawmakers behind the wrongful death proposals also sponsored the 15-week and six-week abortion bans. Still, Grall insisted her bill doesn’t deal with abortion. “I understand that I have been on the frontlines of the abortion debate in my time of service. It’s not something I run away from. I think all of you know that. When this statute is read in its entirety, which I know our bills don’t always give us that opportunity either, it is clear that this is about a wrongful act, negligence, default or breach that leads to the event,” Grall said during the Thursday Fiscal Policy Committee meeting. The committee approved the bill as amended. Democrats and Miami-Dade Republican Sen. Alexis Calatayud voted against the bill, and Democrats expressed their unfavorable position on the amendment in a voice vote. She continued: “My takeaway from some of this conversation has been that the abortion providers don’t intend to comply with 390 [the chapter in Florida statute that regulates abortion] Whether or not it’s 15 weeks or six weeks, or whatever the laws of our land are, is that they don’t intend to comply with the laws of the state of Florida.” Wrongful death suits for fetuses in all stages of development are allowed in 15 states, according to the Feb. 13 staff analysis of SB 476. While the bill prohibits suits against pregnant persons, abortion providers or others aiding access to the procedure wouldn’t be protected. Michelle Grimsley Shindano, the director of public policy for the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates said the bill gives abusers the power to retaliate against a partner pursuing an abortion. “If this legislation becomes law, please know that we will see a significant increase in the misuse of our judicial system. It will lead to frivolous lawsuits against businesses, insurance companies, healthcare providers and individuals,” she said. “As a survivor of domestic violence, it is extremely concerning to me that abusers could use this legislation as a means of maintaining power and control over their victims.” Multiple of the opponents of the bill highlighted a lawsuit out of Texas, where a man sued his ex-wife’s friends for helping her get abortion-inducing medication. They said Florida could see similar suits under the wrongful death bill. Fathers could not file suits from pregnancies occurring out of wedlock, Grall said. She also insisted that suits wouldn’t be possible if the abortion was obtained within the parameters of Florida law. “As to the prosecution of friends that may be helping or anybody that may be helping, again, the statute is very different than the Texas law. Any abortion provider that provides a lawful abortion could not be sued, and so I just think we’ve taken this so far off track,” Grall said. Personhood at conception The amendment Grall filed earlier this week also raised concerns among abortion-rights advocates and Democratic senators because it defined an “unborn child” as “a member of the species Homo sapiens, at any stage of development, who is carried in the womb.” This is the same definition in the criminal penalties related to the death of an “unborn child.” The concern is that a definition extending personhood to fetuses would thwart reproductive freedom and bodily autonomy in Florida. The abortion landscape in the state is still in limbo because the Florida Supreme Court hasn’t issued an opinion on the legal challenge to the 15-week ban and has not said if it will allow the proposed abortion-rights amendment on the ballot. In the House, a proposal to outright ban abortion, except for medical emergencies, hasn’t been heard, and top leaders in the legislature said they don’t support the bill. “Threatening those who seek health care only creates a harsh environment for our state or healthcare providers and erodes our personal freedom. I feel this bill additionally interferes with the clear message in the amendment we are waiting a Supreme Court decision on and will only serve to further misconstrue information around legal abortion, and I feel we just need to wait for Floridians to vote,” Orange County Democratic Sen. Linda Stewart said. [END] --- [1] Url: https://floridaphoenix.com/2024/02/15/abortion-rights-advocates-slam-bill-establishing-personhood-at-conception-in-wrongful-death-suits/ Published and (C) by Florida Phoenix Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/floridaphoenix/