The campaign behind Florida’s proposed abortion amendment is suing the state, claiming First Amendment violations stemming from threats from the DeSantis administration to criminally prosecute television stations if they do not stop running a political ad.
The federal lawsuit is the latest battle between Floridians Protecting Freedom, the group behind Amendment 4, and Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration. DeSantis has leaned heavily on the power of state government in recent months as he attempts to defeat the amendment , which would undo the state’s ban on most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.
The lawsuit centers on cease-and-desist letters the Florida Department of Health sent Oct. 3 to at least two Florida TV stations, telling the stations to take down an ad in favor of the amendment and threatening prosecution if the stations did not.
The ad features a woman, Caroline, who was diagnosed with brain cancer two years ago while pregnant with her second child. In the advertisement, the woman said that if she did not get an abortion, she would not be able to receive cancer treatment and could have died and been unable to be there for her daughter.
“Florida has now banned abortion even in cases like mine,” the woman said in the advertisement.
The Department of Health’s general counsel, John Wilson, called the claims “categorically false” and said the message could put women’s health at risk if it continues to air. Since sending the letter, Wilson has left his job with the state. Wilson is a defendant in the lawsuit, along with Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo.
At least one TV station, WINK-TV in southwest Florida, has since stopped airing the Caroline ad, according to the lawsuit.
In the lawsuit, Floridians Protecting Freedom said that like any political campaign, it has sought to “inform, energize, and persuade voters” to support its cause. It said that while opponents are free to engage in oppositional speech, the state can’t use “coercive powers” to chill speech.
The complaint also argues that the cease-and-desist letters are an “escalation of a broader State campaign to attack Amendment 4 using public resources and government authority to advance the State’s preferred characterization of its anti-abortion laws as the ‘truth’ and denigrate opposing viewpoints as ‘lies.’”
In the complaint, Floridians Protecting Freedom said it fears the state’s threats will cause television stations not to run other advertisements from the group that deal with “the lack of meaningful exceptions” to Florida’s abortion laws, including an ad that features Deborah Dorbert, a woman who was denied an abortion despite knowing her child would likely not survive after birth . Another ad it said it plans to launch will focus on Anya Cook, who was denied an abortion after her water broke at 16 weeks.
“Simply put, these advertisements reflect FPF’s understanding—rooted in an undeniable reality and women’s words about their own experiences—that the exceptions to the current law, a near-total ban on abortion, are not meaningfully accessible to many patients,” the lawsuit says.
The campaign asks for a temporary restraining order and a permanent injunction to keep the state from taking any further actions to “coerce, threaten, or intimate” repercussions to broadcasters airing the campaign’s advertisements. It also asks for an order directing the state to withdraw its cease-and-desist letters, and for monetary damages to compensate for the loss of airtime.
“The state of Florida’s crusade against Amendment 4 is unconstitutional government interference — full stop,” Lauren Brenzel, the Floridians Protecting Freedom campaign director, said in a statement. “The State cannot coerce television stations into removing political speech from the airwaves in an attempt to keep their abortion ban in place.”
The head of the Federal Communications Commission issued a statement earlier this month denouncing the state’s cease-and-desist letters and saying TV stations have a right to air political ads under the First Amendment.
“Threats against broadcast stations for airing content that conflicts with the government’s views are dangerous and undermine the fundamental principle of free speech,” FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement on Oct. 8.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health did not immediately return a request for comment Wednesday about the lawsuit, or about two new contracts the department signed last week to get legal representation “in regard to false political advertisements.”
It’s unclear if the state plans to sue the broadcast stations.
In its cease-and-desist letters, the state noted that Florida’s law allows for abortions to the six-week cutoff in certain instances, including to save the life of the mother or averting irreversible physical impairment. But opponents say uncertainty over the state’s law, and the threat of criminal prosecution, could mean that someone like Caroline may not have been able to get an abortion.
The Florida Supreme Court last week unanimously rejected a petition filed by a Palm Beach County attorney that alleged that top state officials were improperly interfering with the abortion referendum, citing an Agency for Health Care Administration website opposing Amendment 4 . The court said the Palm Beach County man’s petition did not follow legal precedent.
Earlier this month, a circuit judge rejected a lawsuit filed by Floridians Protecting Freedom against the state over the same website. In that case, the judge said it wasn’t the court’s place to intervene.
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