HB 1517 Florida House · 2025 Regular Session

Civil Liability for the Wrongful Death of an Unborn Child

Summary

Civil Liability for the Wrongful Death of an Unborn Child; Prohibits right of action against mother for wrongful death of unborn child or against medical provider for lawful medical care provided in certain circumstances; authorizes parents of an unborn child to recover certain damages; prohibits recovery of certain damages if decedent is an unborn child.

Bill status died 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Apr 2025

House Passage

Apr 2025

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Feb 28, 2025 Last action Jun 16, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

H 1517 Filed → H 1517 c1 · 5 edits

MODERATE

This bill amends Florida's wrongful death statutes to explicitly include parents of unborn children as survivors eligible to recover damages. It also adds protections preventing lawsuits against mothers or medical providers for lawful care related to unborn children, while prohibiting recovery of certain damages if the decedent is an unborn child.

Scope change

The bill expands the scope of wrongful death claims to include unborn children as decedents and adds their parents as eligible survivors, while simultaneously limiting liability against mothers and medical providers in specific circumstances.

ELIGIBILITY

Parents of unborn children are now explicitly defined as 'survivors' eligible to bring wrongful death claims and recover damages.

DEFINITION

Added a new definition for 'unborn child' as a member of Homo sapiens at any stage of development carried in the womb.

REQUIREMENT

Added protections prohibiting wrongful death actions against mothers or medical providers for lawful medical care provided with the mother's consent.

Added a prohibition on recovering certain damages if the decedent is an unborn child.

TIMELINE

The bill specifies an effective date of July 1, 2025.

Floor votes · House Apr 9, 2025

How they voted

78–32

Passed · 8 other

Total votes 118

Apr 9, 2025

D Democratic34

1 Yea 32 Nay 1

94% Nay

R Republican84

77 Yea 7

91% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Apr 10, 2025

Committee

Referred to Rules

upper

Apr 9, 2025

Lower · Passed

CS passed; YEAS 79, NAYS 32

lower

Apr 2, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reported out of Judiciary Committee

lower

Apr 2, 2025

Lower · Passed

Favorable by Judiciary Committee

lower

Mar 31, 2025

Lower · Passed

Added to Judiciary Committee agenda

lower

Mar 21, 2025

Lower · Passed

Now in Judiciary Committee

lower

Mar 21, 2025

Committee

Referred to Judiciary Committee

lower

Mar 20, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reported out of Civil Justice & Claims Subcommittee

lower

Mar 20, 2025

Lower · Passed

Favorable with CS by Civil Justice & Claims Subcommittee

lower

Mar 18, 2025

Lower · Passed

Added to Civil Justice & Claims Subcommittee agenda

lower

Mar 5, 2025

Lower · Passed

Now in Civil Justice & Claims Subcommittee

lower

Mar 5, 2025

Committee

Referred to Judiciary Committee

lower

Mar 5, 2025

Committee

Referred to Civil Justice & Claims Subcommittee

lower

1 primary · 11 co-sponsors