This broad and far-reaching bill would create a slippery slope that could lead to fertilized eggs and embryos having the same rights as a living person. That means for a pregnant patient, lawyers, not doctors, will be consulted if they need health care, including in an emergency. This could jeopardize IVF, chemotherapy, and abortion access if the partner, abuser, or rapist of a pregnant patient is able to sue for the loss or termination of the pregnancy.
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Protecting Patients’ Rights
While this bill may sound like an opportunity for grieving parents to seek compensation for another’s negligence, it's important to understand the serious consequences that could come from this kind of legislation. This bill would open the door to redefining fertilized eggs and embryos as “persons” under the law and would make it much harder for patients to access important health care, especially since we already have a shortage of OB-GYNs in Florida.
This bill isn’t about justice for grieving parents. It’s part of a long-term strategy that those in power have been implementing to strip away our freedom to make personal health care decisions. By expanding the wrongful death statute to treat fertilized eggs and embryos the same as living children, this bill could put patients at risk of losing emergency care or even cancer treatments, solely because they're pregnant.
If passed, this legislation could be the beginning of a slippery slope of the state treating fertilized eggs and embryos as “persons” under the law. If fertilized eggs and embryos were to have the same rights as a person, that would take away the pregnant patient's right to make health care decisions that are best for their body and specific situation, including in emergencies.
As a state already struggling with an affordability crisis, the last thing we need is a liability insurance crisis to add insult to injury.
The Freedom to Decide
Every pregnancy is unique and with complex circumstances that can change at any point along the way. If the law were to give rights to fertilized eggs and embryos it would take away a patient's right to make all kinds of decisions about their pregnancy. We deserve the freedom to make personal health decisions without intrusion from politicians.
While the bill excludes the mother and some medical providers from being targeted with lawsuits for damages, these “carve outs” only exist for civil liability within the scope of the bill. This bad bill will make Florida an even less friendly state for OB-GYN care, and could lead to an increased shortage of OB-GYN doctors. It is clear the Legislature is not interested in protecting the pregnant patient – nowhere in the bill does it require their consent for lawsuits to be pursued.
The truth is, one in four pregnancies end in miscarriage, with some estimates even higher. No one should have to fear investigation, or a lawsuit, when facing a pregnancy loss.
Floridians should have the freedom to make decisions about their pregnancy, including whether to use fertility care to become pregnant, use birth control to prevent pregnancy, or access abortion care to end a pregnancy, without politicians interfering.
Putting Survivors of Domestic Violence at Risk
This bill would open domestic violence survivors seeking abortion care, and those supporting them, to potential civil liability to their abuser for seeking abortion care.
By allowing any parent to seek damages in a wrongful death action for a fertilized egg or embryo, this legislation could subject individuals who seek abortion to harassment from their partners.
In other states where laws like this have been enacted, similar provisions have been used by abusers to maintain control over their victims and to harass health care providers who offer care to survivors of abuse.
Warning Signs from Other States
Some laws that initially seem unrelated to the issue of abortion or reproductive rights can actually have far-reaching consequences if fertilized eggs and embryos are treated the same as living children. We have seen the harmful consequences of policies like this in other states.
In Arizona, a man accompanied his then wife to her abortion appointment, then, two years later following their divorce, filed a wrongful death suit. In a deposition, the ex-wife stated he’d been emotionally abusive through their relationship, at times not allowing her to leave the house without him.
In Alabama, a similar law had devastating consequences that led to IVF services being temporarily shut down throughout the state, making it harder for people to make their own decisions about their bodies and their families.
With thanks to the following for assistance in compiling this guidance: Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Floridians for Reproductive Freedom, Florida Communications and Research Hub.
Last updated 11/13/2025.