Last August, a married couple went before a Broward County court in what was expected to be a routine surrogacy case.

The couple, two men living in France, had contracted with a Florida woman in December to carry their child. As her due date approached, the fathers-to-be petitioned for early parental rights.

While the judge did grant the order, his opinion — and the involvement of Florida’s attorney general — set off a chain of events that could result in a dramatic reshaping of not only surrogacy law, but a range of reproductive issues in Florida.

Judge Marlon Weiss, going beyond what is typically required in such a case, suggested in his order that surrogacy may be unconstitutional. His ruling holds that if unborn children are entitled to personhood — which he implies is correct, citing legal articles in favor of that view — those children cannot be subject to an ownership contract.