(LifeSiteNews) — Republican lawmakers in Florida have voted to advance a bill that would allow parents to claim damages for the wrongful death of their pre-born child due to negligence.
HB 1517 was approved along party lines in the House Civil Justice and Claims Subcommittee Thursday. It now heads to the Judiciary Committee. Republicans currently hold an 86-33 seat margin over Democrats in the State House and a 28-11 majority in the State Senate.
The proposal would expand Florida’s Wrongful Death Act to allow parents “to recover monetary damages from a person who is responsible for the unborn child’s death,” according to a nonpartisan analysis of the bill. It would not allow wrongful death action to be “brought against the mother for the wrongful death of her own unborn child or against a medical provider for lawful medical care.”
The analysis clarifies, however, that parents could recover damages related to “the value of future loss of support and services, reduced to present value; mental pain and suffering; and already-paid medical or funeral expenses.”
HB 1517’s sister bill in the Florida State Senate, SB 1284, has not yet been introduced in that chamber, though it was filed in 2024. Both proposals define an unborn child as a “member of the species Homo sapiens, at any stage of development, who is carried in the womb.”
In February, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis praised the fact that abortions in his state dropped 28 percent last year compared to 2023. The decrease is presumably attributable to the state’s six-week abortion ban. Pro-abortion activists tried to roll back protections for pre-born children during the 2024 election but failed to pass a statewide referendum, which required 60% approval. A PAC founded by DeSantis was instrumental in its defeat.
DeSantis spoke at the 2025 March for Life in Washington D.C. in January. He told attendees that the “sanctity of life does not depend on poll results, it does not depend on which way the winds are blowing,” but rather it is an unalienable right “endowed by our Creator.”
The analysis further notes that sixteen states in the U.S. allow for a lawsuit to be filed in relation to the wrongful death of an unborn child at any stage of development. Florida is one of six states, including California, Iowa, Maine, New Jersey, and New York, that do not recognize legal recourse for the wrongful death of an unborn child.
