House Passes Bill Permitting Parents to Recover Damages for Wrongful Loss of an Unborn Child

HB 1517, sponsored by Representative Sam Greco, (R-Palm Coast) achieved final passage in the House on April 9 by a 79-32 vote. The bill would allow parents to recover monetary damages, including medical and funeral expenses as well as payment for mental pain and suffering, from a person who is responsible for the unborn child’s death. The wrongful act could occur, for example, during a car accident, due to an incident of medical malpractice, or by other careless, neglectful actions of another. The bill prohibits wrongful death actions against the mother of the unborn child or medical providers offering lawful services that meet the standard of care.

“This is about a loss that is so hard to understand and so hard to believe that money or anything is never going to make one whole,” Greco said in his closing statement on the House floor. “But when a terrible tragedy like the loss, the wrongful loss, of an unborn child occurs...mothers, parents, should have the ability to seek to be made whole in those circumstances.”

Senate version SB 1284, sponsored by Senator Erin Grall (R-Fort Pierce), was approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee on Criminal and Civil Justice on April 10 by a 5-3 vote. FCCB staff indicated support for the bill, which now has one remaining committee of reference, Rules.