Of Course Florida Republicans Want to Make It Easier to Sue Doctors Who Perform Abortions

Florida Republicans made their emotions about reproductive freedom fairly apparent final April after they handed a invoice banning abortions after six weeks of being pregnant. But in case their place on abortion wasn’t completely clear, they’re now making an attempt to make it simpler to sue docs who carry out the medical process.

Abortion advocates are deeply involved in regards to the ramifications of HB 651, laws that will let mother and father file civil lawsuits for the wrongful demise of an “unborn child,” in response to stories by Politico and the Orlando Sentinel. While supporters of the invoice insist it isn’t about proscribing abortion, critics should not shopping for it, and it’s not arduous to see why: Democratic consultant Ashley Gantt filed an modification to the proposed invoice that will have protected abortion suppliers, and it was rejected by Republicans. “We’ve now heard from both of the bill sponsors that this isn’t about abortion; however, two things happened,” Laura Goodhue, government director of the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates, stated final week, per the Orlando Sentinel. “One, they didn’t accept an amendment to clarify that, and you also had opposition testimony, clearly stating that this should be a path to personhood.”

“This bill…is a thinly veiled attempt to allow men to sue women and doctors in cases of wanted and needed abortion care,” Lauren Book, the Democratic chief of the Florida Senate, advised Politico. “It’s dangerous, wrong, and yet another instance of state overreach to control women and take away their rights and freedoms.” Republicans in Florida’s Senate have launched laws much like HB 651; that invoice is being sponsored by State Senator Erin Grall, who, not coincidentally, additionally sponsored Florida’s six-week abortion ban. (Fun truth: Grall known as the ban a compromise due to its exceptions for rape and incest. “The termination of life, period, meets the definition of murder,” she stated final 12 months.)

As Rolling Stone reported earlier this month, the antiabortion group Florida Family Action has advocated for the laws, which Democratic state consultant Anna Eskamani has stated “will open up the door for abusers to go after their partners who seek abortion care, will push more doctors out of their professions, and create a legal framework that will absolutely be used to target pregnant people and their loved ones.” As Rolling Stone famous, that’s already been the case in different states:

In Alabama and Arizona, males have sued their ex-partners’ docs for wrongful demise after the docs supplied authorized abortions to these ladies. (The Alabama lawsuit was in the end dismissed; the Arizona case is ongoing.) In Texas, a person named Marcus Silva is at the moment suing three of his ex-wife’s associates for wrongful demise, alleging they helped her acquire capsules to terminate her undesirable being pregnant. Silva is searching for $1 million in damages from every lady. In textual content messages launched as a part of that case, he allegedly promised to drop the lawsuit if his ex-wife had intercourse with him.

“There’s two issues here,” Dana Sussman, deputy government director of the advocacy group Pregnancy Justice, advised Rolling Stone. “One is the slippery slope that we’ve seen play out that normalizes the idea of an unborn child, or fetus, or fertilized egg, or embryo as an entity for which you can attach rights. The second issue is the bill would create an opportunity for another person—the other partner—to make an argument that he has the legal standing to sue over a pregnancy outcome. It just takes someone who’s willing to try that legal theory out—and as we’ve seen, judges accept rogue arguments.”