After a tense debate, the Appropriations Committee on Criminal and Civil Justice approved SB 164 with a 5-3 vote. Sen. Erin Grall’s bill would expand Florida’s Wrongful Death Act to cover the death of a fetus, codifying civil liability and allowing parents to sue for damages. Proponents of the bill insist the Wrongful Death Act must be expanded to give more legal protections to parents suffering from an unfathomable loss. “So that means from the moment of conception a fertilized egg would be considered an unborn child compensable for damages?” Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith asked Grall. Grall’s bill has one final committee stop, the Senate Rules Committee, before it reaches the Senate floor.