HB 289 Florida House · 2026 Regular Session

Civil Liability for the Wrongful Death of an Unborn Child

Summary

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

Bill status died 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Oct 2025

Committee Review

Jan 2026

House Passage

Jan 2026

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Oct 31, 2025 Last action Mar 13, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

H 289 Filed → H 289 c1 · 3 edits

MINOR

This bill amends Florida's wrongful death laws to explicitly include parents as survivors who can sue for the death of an unborn child. It also clarifies that parents cannot be sued for providing lawful medical care to the unborn child, protecting standard medical practices.

Scope change

The bill expands the scope of wrongful death claims to explicitly cover the death of an unborn child, allowing parents to recover damages, while simultaneously protecting healthcare providers from liability when treating the unborn child with the mother's consent.

ELIGIBILITY

Parents are now explicitly defined as 'survivors' eligible to file a wrongful death lawsuit for an unborn child.

DEFINITION

A specific definition for 'unborn child' was added to align with existing state statutes.

REQUIREMENT

The law prohibiting lawsuits against mothers or healthcare providers for medical care was updated to specify that the care must be 'lawful' and provided in 'compliance with the applicable standard of care'.

Floor votes · House Jan 15, 2026

How they voted

76–35

Passed · 7 other

Total votes 118

Jan 15, 2026

D Democratic34

32 Nay 2

94% Nay

R Republican84

76 Yea 3 Nay 5

90% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Jan 16, 2026

Committee

Referred to Rules

upper

Jan 15, 2026

Lower · Passed

CS passed; YEAS 76, NAYS 34

lower

Dec 2, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reported out of Judiciary Committee

lower

Dec 2, 2025

Lower · Passed

Favorable by Judiciary Committee

lower

Nov 24, 2025

Lower · Passed

Added to Judiciary Committee agenda

lower

Nov 19, 2025

Lower · Passed

Now in Judiciary Committee

lower

Nov 19, 2025

Committee

Referred to Judiciary Committee

lower

Nov 18, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reported out of Civil Justice & Claims Subcommittee

lower

Nov 18, 2025

Lower · Passed

Favorable with CS by Civil Justice & Claims Subcommittee

lower

Nov 7, 2025

Lower · Passed

PCS added to Civil Justice & Claims Subcommittee agenda

lower

Nov 4, 2025

Lower · Passed

Now in Civil Justice & Claims Subcommittee

lower

Nov 4, 2025

Committee

Referred to Judiciary Committee

lower

Nov 4, 2025

Committee

Referred to Civil Justice & Claims Subcommittee

lower

1 primary · 10 co-sponsors