States advance fetal rights measures that critics warn will pave a path
for outlawing abortions
[April 11, 2025]
By KATE PAYNE and JOHN HANNA
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A new Kansas law and a Florida bill outline
policies backed by abortion opponents that critics see as moves toward
giving embryos and fetuses the same rights as the women carrying them.
The Kansas Legislature's Republican supermajorities on Thursday overrode
Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly's veto of a bill to require that child
support payments cover embryos and fetuses and to grant an income tax
break for a pregnancy or stillbirth. In Florida, lawmakers are advancing
a bill that would permit parents to seek civil damages for the wrongful
death of an embryo or fetus.
Following the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade,
anti-abortion activists across the country are pushing measures to
enshrine the rights of fetuses, with the ultimate goal of ending
abortion nationwide. Lawmakers pitching the proposals describe them as
support for new parents or vulnerable families.
“This bill is about being compassionate to pregnant women,” Kansas
Republican state Rep. Susan Humphries said Thursday.
Many states already give fetuses some legal rights
Pregnancy Justice, which advocates for pregnant people, found that as of
last year, at least 17 states had laws on the books giving fetuses the
rights of people in criminal or civil law. Also, in most states,
including Florida and Kansas, a person can face criminal charges for
causing the death of a fetus, other than through an abortion.
Georgia and Utah offer income tax breaks for fetuses, and Kansas will
soon allow parents to claim an extra dependent child tax deduction on
their personal income taxes for the year a child is born and a deduction
for a stillbirth.
Also like Georgia, Kansas will start a divorced or single parent's
obligation to pay child support “from the date of conception." Its new
law takes effect July 1.
“It really is common sense, to provide support for women,” said
Republican state Sen. Kellie Warren, a supporter of the Kansas measure.
The Texas Senate approved a child support proposal earlier this month,
and lawmakers introduced proposals this year in Missouri, Montana,
Pennsylvania and Virginia, according to an Associated Press analysis
using the bill-tracking software Plural.
Allowing wrongful death lawsuits to cover fetuses
The bill advancing in Florida would allow parents to file lawsuits over
the wrongful death of a embryo or fetus at any stage of pregnancy, and
juries could award monetary damages for the wages a fetus would have
earned, according to the bill's sponsor.
The bill has cleared the full House and was approved by its second
Senate committee Thursday, though its third and final committee hearing
has yet to be scheduled.
Florida is among six states that do not allow lawsuits over the wrongful
death of a fetus, according to a legislative analysis. Kansas already
has a law like the one Florida is considering.
In Florida, sponsoring Republican Sen. Erin Grall told her colleagues
the measure “is not about abortion."
“It’s not a secret. Everybody in the room knows where I stand on life,"
Grall said. "To me this is about parity in our civil justice system.”
[to top of second column]
|
Kansas Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Kellie Warren, R-Leawood,
speaks in favor of overriding Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly's veto of
a bill that gives parents an income tax deduction for fetuses and
embryos and requires a divorced or single parent's child support
payments to begin at conception, Thursday, April 10, 2025, at the
Statehouse in Topeka, Kan. (AP Photo/John Hanna)
One expert sees a ‘well-defined and very public playbook’
Critics see both the Florida and Kansas proposals as part of an effort
to move from allowing states to ban abortion — as the U.S. Supreme Court
did in its 2022 Dobbs decision — to outlawing abortion across the nation
as a violation of a fetus' or embryo's constitutional rights.
Mary Ziegler, a University of California, Davis law professor who's
published six books in the past 10 years on abortion law and the history
of U.S. abortion policy, said this year's Florida measure aligns with a
“pretty well-defined and very public playbook" to build a legal
framework for a national abortion ban.
“It’s about setting a precedent for recognizing fetal rights in one
context being used to recognize fetal rights constitutionally," she
said.
Florida considered a similar wrongful death measure last year, but it
failed amid concerns about an Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen
embryos can be considered children under state law. In vitro
fertilization services stopped in Alabama until that state's governor
signed a law to protect them — a step taken in other GOP-controlled
states.
Concerns about IVF services still linger among some lawmakers in the
Florida state capital of Tallahassee, as well as among doctors and
abortion rights advocates.
Democratic state Rep. Allison Tant took to the House floor to debate
against the Florida bill, which she says “imperils” the fertility
services that made her a mom.
“IVF pregnancies are inherently fragile and risky,” Tant said. “We are
going to see lawsuits like we’ve never seen."
Additional bipartisan concerns emerge
Reproductive rights advocates in Florida also worry that wrongful death
lawsuits could target health care providers who offer abortions, family
and friends who help a loved one obtain an abortion, or fertility
clinics whose clients experience a miscarriage.
In Texas, a man filed a wrongful death lawsuit against three women he
said helped his now-ex-wife obtain medication for an abortion, though he
later settled the case.
Florida’s proposal specifies that it does not authorize a cause of
action against a mother for the death of her unborn child, or against a
health care worker if they provided “lawful” medical care.
Still, Republican Sen. Tom Leek voted against the bill in committee
after raising concerns about the measure potentially “being weaponized
against women who lose a child.”
The fear of legal action could push more OBGYNs to avoid taking on
high-risk patients or stop practicing in Florida entirely, a lobbyist
for a medical malpractice insurance company has argued.
“There is a serious concern that there are other motivations here behind
this bill, specifically with respect to abortion, with respect to
potentially IVF in the future,” said Democratic Sen. Tina Polsky. “This
is setting a new base for future issues, for future liability, for
future bans. And it’s incredibly concerning.”
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
