Abortion rights group sues state over censorship attempts
Gov. Ron DeSantis and Health officials had sought to intimidate television stations from running a pro-choice ad
The group behind the Florida ballot initiative filed a complaint against the state Department of Health to stop an attempt to censor television advertising favorable to abortion rights.
Lawyers for Floridians Protecting Freedom filed the complaint in the Northern District of Florida in Tallahassee after Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Department of Health leaders sent cease-and-desist letters to several television stations about an abortion rights advertisement that they claimed misled voters. The complaint said that the group, known as FPF for short, will continue to run the ad.
“It is intolerable that FPF do so with the State dangling a sword of Damocles over anyone who would facilitate that core political expression—threatening broadcasters with criminal prosecution if they air viewpoints the State disagrees with, and silencing FPF’s speech in the process,” it said.
The allusion to ancient Greek folklore was a nice touch. Damocles served a Sicilian king, Dionysius. They exchanged places, with Damocles sitting on the throne with a sword hanging over his head. However, the sword was held in place by a single hair of a horse’s tail. As such, the looming threat of it coming down showed the danger that a great power is constantly in.
I prefer the Georgia judge’s rhetorical flourish with its allusion to A Handsmaid’s Tale when it ruled on its abortion ban. Still, other liberal judges and lawyers will try to top this filing and that decision with their colorful turns of phrases. Who says we can’t all try to be like Oliver Wendell Holmes?
The ad featured a woman with a brain tumor who needed an abortion. The woman, whose name was Caroline, said that she would lose her life under the current abortion law. The letter argued that women would leave the state to get abortion care when they could get it in the state under the law’s exceptions for life-saving care.
The lawsuit was filed against Joseph A. Ladapo, in his official capacity as State Surgeon General and Head of the Florida Department of Health, and John Wilson, former General Counsel to the Florida Department of Health.
The lawsuit seeks three major remedies. First, it wants an injunction stopping the State from taking any further actions to coerce, threaten, or intimate repercussions directly or indirectly to television stations, broadcasters, or other parties for airing Plaintiff’s speech or undertaking enforcement action against Plaintiff for running political advertisements or engaging in other speech protected under the First Amendment. Second, it seeks compensatory and punitive damages for this egregious and willful violation of our First Amendment rights. Finally, it wants to recover attorney’s fees.
Lauren Brenzel, campaign director for Yes on 4, issued a statement.
“We will continue our campaign in the face of this blatant government interference,” Brenzel said. “But we must remain focused and continue to organize our communities because the choice this November is to either keep a near-total abortion ban with no real exceptions for rape, incest, or the health of the woman OR to vote YES on Amendment 4 and limit the government from intervening with private medical decisions.”