Declaring fetuses to be people would crush abortion rights
Floridians are already alarmed about women losing the right to control their own bodies, but what’s happening at the state Capitol is even more terrifying. One by one, House members voted yes this week on legislation declaring fetuses to be people from the moment of conception — turning wombs into political battlegrounds long before most women know they are pregnant.
The sponsor of House Bill 651, Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka, R-Fort Myers, did her best to hide the radical nature of her legislation, which creates civil liability for anyone who causes the “wrongful death” of a fetus in utero. But everyone knew exactly what was at stake.
This proposal would be a shattering blow to what’s left of women’s reproductive independence, beyond debates over viability and banning abortion at a specified number of weeks. HB 651 would kick in at the very start of a pregnancy, creating an easy steppingstone from wrongful deaths (including from abortions) to anything that threatens the health of a fetus, even if it’s meant to benefit the mother’s health.
Floridians should bombard legislators with messages, telling them that this is far too radical for anyone who cares about freedom. Then they should turn to their congressional representatives and call on them for legislation to shut down this hazardous movement nationally.
Contact your lawmakers
They can start by letting lawmakers know they see through this charade. Persons-Mulicka pointed out more than once that the language of her legislation specifically excludes a pregnant person. But that’s a negligible speed bump, especially if the Florida Supreme Court picks up the theme and uses it to obliterate abortion rights in Florida.
Think they won’t? Think again. Supreme Court Chief Justice Carlos Muñiz was already hinting in that direction during recent oral arguments over a ballot initiative that would, with voters’ approval, explicitly protect abortion rights in Florida.
But advocates of so-called “fetal personhood” think they’ve found a way around that amendment.
By declaring a fetus to be a person, the Legislature and/or the courts would at best set up a collision course between two competing interests that just happen to share a body — along with the well-being of medical personnel being asked to care for both.
Threat to doctors, nurses
Persons-Mulicka’s bill does not protect the doctors, nurses and other people who perform abortions, even if the procedure is otherwise legal. Taken in context, that looming threat is clearly a large portion of the intention behind this bill.
Proclaiming that fetuses are people at very earliest stages of pregnancy would likely have an immediate and potentially deadly consequence.
In other states that have passed such radical laws, obstetricians are fleeing: “We would be losing the best and the brightest, and creating maternity deserts,” warned Rep. Kristen Arrington, D-Kissimmee. She voted no in the House Judiciary Committee, as did Rep. Mike Gottlieb, D-Davie. (No Republican lawmakers from Palm Beach or Broward are on the panel).
This legislation sends a clear message that many Florida lawmakers don’t care about a woman’s freedom to choose her own reproductive fate, and they don’t care whether a pregnancy is the result of rape or incest, whether a woman’s health is at risk, or whether the fetus would ever be viable outside the womb.
Threat to women’s freedom
That’s why Floridians should go on offense, vociferously.
Adopting this legislation would put Florida dangerously close to a society in which women live under the threat of being reduced to mere vessels for pregnancies, whether or not those pregnancies are intentional or wanted. Other lawmakers need to see the very real threat that’s rising behind seemingly mild legislation.
At Wednesday’s hearing, state Rep. Paula Stark, a Republican from St. Cloud, voted yes. But if the bill reaches the House floor in its current form, she said she would vote no. “This is just way too over-broad,” Stark said.
With two weeks to go in the 2024 session, there appears to be no way to fix this legislation. Any step in this direction would be too extreme, and most Floridians can figure that out.
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