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Florida Republicans made their feelings about reproductive freedom pretty obvious last April when they passed a bill banning abortions<\/a> after six weeks of pregnancy. But in case their position on abortion wasn\u2019t entirely clear, they\u2019re now attempting to make it easier to sue doctors who perform the medical procedure.<\/p>\n Abortion advocates are deeply concerned about the ramifications of HB 651, legislation that would let parents file civil lawsuits for the wrongful death of an \u201cunborn child,\u201d according to reports by Politico<\/a> and the Orlando Sentinel<\/em><\/a>.<\/em> While supporters of the bill insist it is not about restricting abortion, critics are not buying it, and it\u2019s not hard to see why: Democratic representative Ashley Gantt<\/strong> filed an amendment to the proposed bill that would have protected abortion providers, and it was rejected by Republicans. \u201cWe\u2019ve now heard from both of the bill sponsors that this isn\u2019t about abortion; however, two things happened,\u201d Laura Goodhue,<\/strong> executive director of the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates, said last week, per the Orlando Sentinel.<\/em> \u201cOne, they didn\u2019t accept an amendment to clarify that, and you also had opposition testimony, clearly stating that this should be a path to personhood.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis bill\u2026is a thinly veiled attempt to allow men to sue women and doctors in cases of wanted and needed abortion care,\u201d Lauren Book,<\/strong> the Democratic leader of the Florida Senate, told Politico. \u201cIt\u2019s dangerous, wrong, and yet another instance of state overreach to control women and take away their rights and freedoms.\u201d Republicans in Florida\u2019s Senate have introduced<\/a> legislation similar to HB 651; that bill is being sponsored by State Senator Erin Grall,<\/strong> who, not coincidentally, also sponsored<\/a> Florida\u2019s six-week abortion ban. (Fun fact: Grall called<\/a> the ban a compromise because of its exceptions for rape and incest.<\/em> \u201cThe termination of life, period, meets the definition of murder,\u201d she said last year.)<\/p>\n As Rolling Stone<\/em> reported<\/a> earlier this month, the antiabortion group Florida Family Action has advocated<\/a> for the legislation, which Democratic state representative Anna Eskamani<\/strong> has said \u201cwill 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.\u201d As Rolling Stone<\/em> noted, that\u2019s already been the case in other states:<\/p>\n In\u00a0Alabama\u00a0and\u00a0Arizona, men have sued their ex-partners\u2019 doctors for wrongful death after the doctors provided legal abortions to those women. (The Alabama lawsuit was ultimately dismissed; the Arizona case is ongoing.) In Texas, a man named Marcus Silva<\/strong> is currently\u00a0suing three of his ex-wife\u2019s friends\u00a0for wrongful death, alleging they helped her obtain pills to terminate her unwanted pregnancy. Silva is seeking $1 million in damages from each woman. In text messages introduced as part of that case, he allegedly\u00a0promised to drop\u00a0the lawsuit if his ex-wife had sex with him.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u201cThere\u2019s two issues here,\u201d Dana Sussman,<\/strong> deputy executive director of the advocacy organization Pregnancy Justice, told Rolling Stone.<\/em> \u201cOne is the slippery slope that we\u2019ve 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\u2014the other partner\u2014to make an argument that he has the legal standing to sue over a pregnancy outcome. It just takes someone who\u2019s willing to try that legal theory out\u2014and as we\u2019ve seen, judges accept rogue arguments.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n