Rep Duggan, Senator Burgess - Make Room for the people's voice!
There are two Florida House bills and two Senate bills submitted for the January 2022 session that could effectively repeal the Florida Free Kill law, if they are heard. Right now, that is a really big IF. Millions of Floridians and vacationers fall into the free kill category. The biggest problem with this law is that it allows medical practitioners a loophole, they cannot be held accountable when they cause negligent death of this class or people. To put it bluntly, if a surgeon fails to close up the patient properly and the patient dies, there is nothing the family can do about it, they have no right to an attorney and the surgeon keeps their license. The fallout includes a decrease in quality of care, as mistakes are not corrected with respect to the future care of new patients.
Since the law has been in place, insurance companies and hospitals have saved money. While medical malpractice rates keep going up, payouts for lawsuits have gone down. Of course, they want to keep the law in place. But at what cost? The value of human life. Equality among all citizens. The safety of our most vulnerable population.
In Representative Wyman Duggan's office, the only voices he is listening to value corporate interest. His priority is not the voices of his constituents (Jacksonville) nor the value of human life. He is in charge of the agenda for the Civil Justice and Property Rights Sub-committee, the first committee where these bills will need to be heard prior to becoming law. Advocates have been told "he does not like these bills because there are no caps." He feels he must protect the hospitals and insurance companies from frivolous lawsuits. What he fails to see is that this law is not causing an insurance issue. There are many ways to address insurance issues. Ensuring that it stays acceptable for bad actors to cause the negligent death of the unwed with no minor children is not one of them. This is a bad and discriminatory law. As of today, he aims to protect it. He has not returned any of the phone calls made by advocates asking for the bills to be heard. He does not have room in his court for the voice of the people. It has been whispered that the PAC "owns" the Civil Justice Committee. I can't prove it, but I don't doubt it for a second.
In Senator Danny Burgess' office there is no validation that he will allow the bills to be heard. His staffers have listened to many advocates speak. At least one of them falls into the free kill category. Often a bill must be heard in the house before the Senate will agree to hear it. He was present at Polk County Delegation, where five advocates spoke about their unjust lost of a loved one. Yet nobody knows if he will allow the bills to be heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee or not. I have heard that the Senate in general is closer with the political action committees than they are with the people. I hope this is not true, though it's not exactly hard to believe. I guess we will find out fairly soon where his priorities lie. For the people or for corporate interests?
The bills must be heard and pass the two aforementioned committees in order to be heard in the next committee rounds, respectively the House Judiciary and Senate Banking and Insurance Committee. If they pass here, they can then move to the Rules Committee. Overwhelmingly, people are tired of self serving corporations contributing to PACs that strategically influence state leaders to steer the helm of committees in favor corporate interests that harm the people.
Unfortunately, in Florida getting this wrong righted is an uphill battle. If you want to find out how you can help, please click here.
For me, no ideological or political conviction would justify the sacrifice of a human life. For me, the value of life is absolute, with no concessions. It's not negotiable.
Please take 2 minutes and sign this letter asking for the bills to be heard. When you click send, both Senator Burgess and Representative Duggan will receive it, along with the rest of the Florida legislators.
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