GOP attorney general says surrogacy is unconstitutional: It's "modern-day slavery" - LGBTQ Nation

"Florida's anti-LGBTQ+ Attorney General James Uthmeier (R) is trying to outlaw surrogacy in the state, claiming it's akin to "modern-day slavery.""

"Judge Marlon Weiss took it as an opportunity to posit that surrogacy could be unconstitutional, the Miami Herald reported. If fetuses have the same rights as people, he said, then a parentage contract could violate their rights. "If a preborn living human being is entitled to legal personhood," he reportedly wrote, "it goes without saying that such persons cannot be subject to contractual bartering or ownership.""

"Weiss later submitted this opinion as part of his application to join Florida's Fourth District Court of Appeals (he didn't get the gig) and also published it in a law trade journal, despite the case's confidentiality. But Weiss reportedly argued that because he did not use identifying information about the child or parents, he was allowed to publish it."

"Despite the case's confidentiality, Uthmeier also somehow heard about it. The Herald said the fact that he did is "remarkable." According to Slate, Uthmeier filed a motion in the case in November, just a day after the baby was born."

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is pursuing a ban on surrogacy in the state, claiming surrogacy is comparable to modern-day slavery. In March, he intervened in a routine surrogacy matter involving two married men from France using a surrogate in Florida. The men sought early parental rights, and Judge Marlon Weiss raised constitutional concerns about surrogacy and parentage contracts. Weiss argued that if preborn living humans have legal personhood, they cannot be treated as objects of contractual ownership or bartering. Weiss later published his opinion in a law trade journal despite confidentiality. Uthmeier also became aware of the confidential case and filed a motion shortly after the baby was born.

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