Background
In 1998, a RLM-supported law was passed allowing civil lawsuits to be brought against individuals for causing the death of an unborn child prior to the point of “viability.” Prior to that time, the courts had already interpreted and extended the Wrongful Death Act to allow actions for the death of post-viable unborn children. A parallel law was also passed in 1998, the Prenatal Protection Act, allowing for charges against a person who injures or kills an unborn child during a criminal act (vis-a-vis the Laci Peterson case).

During the legislative debate over expanding the Wrongful Death Act (WDA), abortion advocates temporarily blocked the bill claiming it was an attempt to declare the unborn a “person” under the WDA. The WDA specifically authorizes an action on behalf of a deceased “person.” To overcome this objection, the WDA (Section 2922) was not directly amended, but a new subsection of law added immediately following the WDA (Section 2922a) pertaining specifically to unborn children. The presumption was that the two sections would work in conjunction with each other to allow lawsuits for previable unborn children.

In near total defiance of logic, several courts have dismissed cases involving the wrongful death of previable children claiming that the WDA requires that a “person” has died, and that section 2922a does not declare a previable child to be a “person.” This bizarre interpretation of the two laws renders section 2922a essentially meaningless. H.B. 4777 explicitly links the two sections of law together, effectively eliminating these court interpretations.

History
H.B. 4777 was introduced by Rep. William Van Regenmorter on 5/11/05. It was reported out of the House Judiciary Committee on 10/12/05 with a vote of 14-0. H.B. 4777 passed on the floor of the House of Representatives on 10/25/05, with a vote of 106-0.

The Wrongful Death Act Revision was reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on 11/8/05, with Sen. Alan Cropsey presiding. It passed with a vote of 6-0. On 11/30/05 H.B. 4777 unanimously passed in the Senate with a vote of 35-0, 3 were absent.