Florida suspends bill seeking to allow lawsuits over fetuses’ deaths after IVF ruling

TALLAHASSEE, Florida — A Florida Republican senator this week said she has sidelined a bill that seeks to add fetuses to wrongful death lawsuits amid ongoing concern from Democrats that the legislation was an attempt to grant personhood to fetuses.

Lawmakers expected to hear the bill, SB 476, in the Senate committee on Rules on Monday but Chair Debbie Mayfield announced that it had been temporarily postponed. Sen. Erin Grall, a Vero Beach Republican who sponsored the proposal, wrote in a text to POLITICO that the bill, which would allow parents to sue over the wrongful death of a fetus, had not been previously considered by the Legislature.

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

Grall’s bill was heavily criticized by abortion rights groups who said the measure was meant to scare doctors who perform abortions. Senate Democratic Leader Lauren Book said before Monday’s meeting that Grall had proposed changes that would soften the bill language for abortion doctors, but there were lingering concerns that it would leave health care providers hesitant to provide in vitro fertilization.

Book, who is from Plantation, said the bill was also an attempt by Republicans to give rights to fetuses, which is seen as a move by anti-abortion groups that want to make the termination of a pregnancy a crime. The issue has become a new battle over reproductive after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that embryos are people.

Republicans across the country have already come out in support of IVF while backing away from the Alabama ruling. Several Republican governors last week, including Georgia’s Brian Kemp Tennessee’s Bill Lee, last week told POLITICO that they back IVF while the Senate GOP campaign arm told candidates to publicly support IVF.

Former President Donald Trump last week also came out in support of IVF, saying that Alabama lawmakers should preserve access to the procedure. Trump is widely considered to be the GOP presidential front-runner.

“It doesn’t go far enough to ensure that we’re dealing with personhood,” Book said.

With only two weeks left in this year’s legislative session, Grall’s decision to postpone the bill has thrown the measure into uncertainty. The House companion measure, HB 651, is eligible for consideration on the floor.

But even if the measure is approved, the Senate cannot take up the House bill if the Senate version is stuck in a committee.