{"id":329657,"date":"2025-04-16T16:40:26","date_gmt":"2025-04-16T21:40:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=329657"},"modified":"2025-04-15T21:22:09","modified_gmt":"2025-04-16T02:22:09","slug":"florida-lawsuits-wrongful-death-preborn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/florida-lawsuits-wrongful-death-preborn\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida bill would allow ‘wrongful death’ lawsuits for preborn children"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

Lawmakers in the Florida House passed a bill last week to allow family members to sue for the wrongful death of a preborn child.<\/p>\n

HB 1517<\/a> allows parents to seek damages if someone causes the death of their preborn child, but it does not allow action against the mother or doctor in cases of legal abortion. The bill allows a jury to award monetary damages equal to the wages that a preborn child may have earned. It passed the House with a vote of 79-32, while its Senate companion, SB 1284<\/a>, passed the Senate Appropriations Committee on Criminal and Civil Justice.<\/p>\n

Though Florida already allows a murder charge against the fetus in instances in which a mother and her preborn child are killed \u2014 something that is not guaranteed in all states \u2014 this new legislation would further allow parents to seek damages if the actions of another cause a preborn child’s death.<\/p>\n

Senate sponsor Sen. Erin Grall emphasized that the bill is “not about abortion.”<\/p>\n

“To me, this is about parity in our civil justice system,” Grall said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a life issue. I think it\u2019s pretty apparent,\u201d added<\/a> Sen. Blaise Ingoglia. \u201cWe have plenty of places in Florida statute where we value the unborn child and what this does is just makes it consistent.\u201d<\/p>\n