By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
"The government cannot excuse its indirect censorship of political speech simply by declaring the disfavored speech is 'false,'" the judge wrote.
A judge in Florida had some harsh words for Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis after his administration threatened to prosecute television stations broadcasting advertisement in favor of an abortion referendum on the November ballot.
The state's Department of Health recently sent a cease-and-desist letter to stations airing the ad in support of Floridians Protecting Freedom's proposed amendment, which would legally protect the right to an abortion until fetal viability at around six months into pregnancy, threatening “criminal proceedings” if the outlets continued to run it.
The ad features a mother in Florida, Caroline Williams, who shared that she previously had to have an abortion when a brain tumor threatened her life, which the state's recently-enacted six-week ban would have prevented. She said: “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."
DeSantis’ deputy press secretary, Julia Friedland, said in a statement that the ad was challenged not for political reasons, but because it was "unequivocally false," as the state's ban has exceptions for life-threatening pregnancies. However, there have been several examples of women still being unable to obtain medically necessary abortions under similar restrictions, including one Georgia woman who died after doctors delayed her abortion.
U.S. District Chief Judge Mark Walker has since issued a temporary restraining order preventing the DeSantis Administration from "taking any further actions to coerce, threaten, or intimate repercussions directly or indirectly to television stations, broadcasters, or other parties" that air the ad until the preliminary injunction hearing on October 29.
“Whether it’s a woman’s right to choose, or the right to talk about it ... Under the facts of this case, the First Amendment prohibits the State of Florida from trampling on [Floridians Protecting Freedom's] free speech," Walker wrote.
"Political advertisement is political speech — speech at the core of the First Amendment. The government cannot excuse its indirect censorship of political speech simply by declaring the disfavored speech is 'false,'" Walker continued. "To keep it simple for the State of Florida: it's the First Amendment, stupid."
The “Yes on 4” campaign in Florida is one of 10 abortion referendums that will be on ballots November 5, though the state is the only to require 60 percent of the vote for the amendment to pass.
