Florida suspends bill to protect ‘unborn child’ after IVF ruling

The news

Republican lawmakers in Florida this week sidelined a bill that would allow civil lawsuits over the wrongful death of a fetus.

Those on both sides of the abortion debate attributed the pause to the fallout from the Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos should be considered children.

If passed, the bill would add Florida to the ranks of about a dozen other states that, in some cases, allow parents to receive financial compensation when a fetus has died. The bill says that in wrongful death cases, parents of an “unborn child” will be considered survivors who can sue in civil court.

But in recent weeks, Democrats and others warned that the bill amounts to “fetal personhood,” granting the full rights of a person to a fetus. Such a designation, they say, would endanger doctors and anyone who helped women obtain abortions and would also negatively impact fertility treatments.

On Monday, Republican legislative leaders in Florida announced they had postponed the proposal the bill.

“While I have worked diligently to respond to questions and concerns, I understand there is still work to be done,” Sen. Erin Grall, a Vero Beach Republican and bill sponsor, said in a statement. “It is important that we have the right policies on an issue of this significance.”

Why it matters: IVF ruling presents new challenges for Republicans

Last week’s ruling in Alabama created a political firestorm for Republicans, who were already grappling with internal divisions and public opinion on abortion.

The Alabama ruling prompted abortion opponents, such as former President Donald J. Trump and several Republican governors, to underline their support for IVF

Although Florida’s bill does not mention IVF, critics feared it could impact fertility treatments and make it more difficult for families to have children.

“It’s reasonable to assume that IVF was a problem for this bill from the beginning,” said Mary Ziegler, a law professor and historian at the University of California, Davis, who taught at Florida State University. “But the level of opposition and concern increased significantly after the ruling. It’s like it turned into a firestorm.”

Background: Fetal personhood is a target for anti-abortion activists

With the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, abortion opponents have been able to focus more attention on another important target: the personhood of the fetus.

The Florida bill did not use the term ‘personality’. The word ‘doctor’ was also not mentioned. But opponents criticized the bill for being a de facto personality law. The bill’s sponsors said an unborn child is “a member of the species Homo sapiens, at any stage of development, that is carried in the womb.”

On Monday, after the bill was postponed, Florida Voice for the Unborn, an anti-abortion group, praised Ms. Grall because repealing what they said was a flawed bill because the definition should apply to “those unborn children frozen as embryos.” The group also said it expected the bill to be reintroduced and passed in 2025.

What happens now

With just two weeks left in the legislative calendar, the delay suggested the bill’s chances for passage this session were slim.

Senator Lauren Book of Plantation, the Democratic minority leader, wrote on Xthe social media platform formerly known as Twitter, which “seems fortunate that personality will not be the law of the land in our state.”

Florida residents are awaiting a ruling from the state Supreme Court on the constitutionality of the state law banning most abortions after 15 weeks. In addition, the state recently passed a law banning abortion after six weeks. If the court upholds the fifteen-week ban, the more recent six-week ban may take effect.

Residents are also waiting to see whether they will vote in November on a ballot measure that would protect abortion rights in the state Constitution.

The Supreme Court is considering a challenge from opponents of the ballot initiative, who say the language is too vague. But the court’s conservative justices, who have until April 1 to rule on the challenge, appear reluctant to block the ballot measure.

The ballot measure would require more than 60 percent support from voters to pass. According to a statewide poll conducted by the University of North Florida in November, 62 percent of registered voters said they were in favor of the amendment, including 53 percent of Republicans.