A coalition advocating for abortion rights in Florida has filed a lawsuit against state officials after they ordered local TV stations to cease airing one of the group’s advertisements. This legal action comes from Floridians Protecting Freedom, who contend that the state’s directive is an infringement on their right to express their views regarding abortion access.
The health department, which operates under the administration of Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, informed television networks earlier this month that the advertisement was deemed misleading and potentially harmful, warning that if the ad remained on air, it could lead to criminal charges.
In their complaint submitted to a U.S. District Court in Tallahassee, the abortion rights advocates argued that the state’s actions represent a broader attempt to undermine the proposed abortion rights amendment by using state resources to promote their anti-abortion stance, labeling dissenting opinions as falsehoods.
Officials from the health department, including State Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo and former general counsel John Wilson, are mentioned in the lawsuit, which seeks to prevent the state from pursuing legal action against television stations that choose to broadcast the advertisement.
The ad began airing on approximately 50 stations on October 1, shortly before the health department’s directive. While most stations continued to air the ad despite the warning, at least one station opted to pull it, as indicated in the lawsuit.
This legal filing continues the ongoing struggle between the state and abortion rights advocates regarding a ballot measure that aims to safeguard a woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy until fetal viability, which typically occurs after 20 weeks. This proposed change would counteract Florida’s recent law that prohibits abortions in most scenarios after the sixth week of pregnancy, a time when many women may not yet know they are expecting.
The state attorney general previously attempted to eliminate the measure from the ballot, while advocates have fought back against state critiques. One specific legal challenge claims that the state’s fiscal impact assessment on the measure is misleading.
Recently, the state has levied a $328,000 fine against the advocacy group, following the release of a report alleging numerous fraudulent signatures or deceptive petitions were submitted to bring the abortion rights question before voters.
Alongside Florida, eight other states will have analogous measures appearing on their ballots on November 5; however, Florida’s campaign is emerging as the most expensive. As the third-most populous state in the U.S., Florida requires at least 60% voter approval for the amendment to be ratified, a challenging threshold for proponents amid strong opposition.
One of the ads features a woman sharing her story of being diagnosed with brain cancer during her 20th week of pregnancy, which would have conflicted with the state’s restrictions preventing her from accessing an abortion prior to her treatment.
“The doctors knew that if I did not end my pregnancy, I would lose my baby, I would lose my life, and my daughter would lose her mom,” stated Caroline Williams in the advertisement.
The state’s correspondence to TV stations claimed that Williams’ assertion in the ad was “categorically false,” arguing that under certain circumstances, women can obtain an abortion after six weeks if it is deemed necessary to save their life or to prevent significant and irreversible harm to their health.
However, the advocacy group counters that the exception cited by the state would not have been applicable in this instance due to the terminal diagnosis; they argue that while the abortion did not save her life, it merely extended it.
The chair of the Federal Communications Commission has criticized the actions taken by the state of Florida in a recent statement.
