TALLAHASSEE, FL — The Civil Justice Subcommittee voted Thursday to advance House Bill 651 (HB 651), which would open the door to civil lawsuits for damages against health care practitioners providing abortion care. It could also impact the friends and family members who supported a pregnant individual’s efforts to obtain the medical care they needed. Additionally, it would allow any individual who impregnated another person to sue for the wrongful death of a fetus.
The ACLU of Florida opposes this bill and its companion bill Senate Bill 476 (SB 476).
Kara Gross, legislative director and senior policy counsel at the ACLU of Florida, responded with the following:
“We have grave concerns about the real-world impacts of this overly broad bill and call upon the sponsor to make explicit in the bill that no lawsuits may be brought against an individual who sought abortion care or against their health care provider, or against any other person who assisted the pregnant person in accessing abortion care.
“The bill is so broadly worded that it could open the door to civil lawsuits for damages against health care providers providing abortion care as well as the friends and family members who supported a pregnant individual’s efforts to obtain the medical care they needed. These are not hypothetical situations -- we’ve seen dangerous wrongful death cases like these brought in Texas and Arizona.
“Under HB 651’s overly broad language, civil lawsuits for damages could be brought by any person who impregnates someone else. Let me repeat: the bill creates a cause of action for damages to be brought by any person who impregnates another person. Additionally, there is no definition of ‘unborn child’ in the bill’s language. It is unclear whether a cause of action accrues at the moment of fertilization or sometime after.
“This bill is another example of how extremist legislators are continuing to make it more difficult for Floridians to access the care they need. It would have a chilling effect on doctors providing necessary health care, on patients seeking the care they need, and on family members and friends who support their loved one seeking access to abortion care.
“Anti-abortion extremists aren’t satisfied with criminalizing abortion after six weeks, they also want to make it so that people who access abortion care, along with their doctors who provide such care, are also subject to civil lawsuits for damages.”
