TALLAHASSEE, FL—Less than two months before Florida's abortion amendment will appear on the November ballot, a new state-sponsored website slamming the alleged "threat" of the measure has been hit with its second lawsuit in one week because it is "abusive", petitioners say, the website should be removed, and the state should be banned from ever using public funds to promote "false information" about the amendment again.
And that's just one of the lawsuits.
The drama first erupted last week, when the state Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) revealed a new website claiming that the abortion measure—entitled Amendment 4—"threatens women's safety" and insisted that "We must keep Florida from becoming an abortion tourism state." The backlash was swift.
"In educating the electorate about the purpose and ramifications of a proposed constitutional amendment, the government cannot do so in a manner that is inaccurate, misleading, abusive, or fraudulent,” reads the lawsuit, filed by advocacy giant ACLU of Florida and Floridians Protecting Freedom, the group that led the charge to get the abortion amendment on the ballot. “AHCA's actions regarding Amendment 4...have been inaccurate, misleading, abusive and fraudulent.”
Filed Thursday afternoon, the lawsuit demands the removal of "misleading materials" from AHCA's platforms. It seeks an injunction blocking the state from using public funds to "promote false information about Amendment 4 in the future,", including online, on TV, and through radio.
The suit blasts AHCA for their new TV ad (linking viewers to the controversial site) which exalted the state's six-week abortion ban as a common-sense law allowing for abortions to save the woman's life, before a heartbeat is detected, and in the cases of rape and incest. Pro-abortion advocates have argued that the law, enacted in May, virtually bans all abortions because many women don't know they're pregnant at six weeks.
"The State cannot justify its current abortion ban and its dire impacts on Florida’s voters, so instead it is attempting to undermine the political power of the people enshrined in Florida’s Constitution," ACLU staff attorney Michelle Morton said in a statement. "The state’s actions are designed with one goal in mind: to take attention away from the women in Florida currently suffering from a lack of healthcare access in our state."
This suit is the second filed against AHCA this week. Tuesday, Lake Worth attorney Adam Richardson kicked off the legal battles by filing a case in the Florida Supreme Court against Gov. Ron DeSantis, Attorney General Ashley Moody, and AHCA Secretary Jason Weida, a DeSantis appointee, for allegedly violating a statute banning state officers from interfering in elections. He asked the Court to fast-track the case before the Amendment is scheduled to be voted on and to issue writs of quo warranto and mandamus asking the three powerhouses to do their jobs.
So far, the Court has agreed to speed up the case.
How Did We Get Here?
After Roe v. Wade was overturned by Trump-appointed Justices in 2022, abortion laws became a state issue. So, while blue states like California seized the opportunity to immediately add abortion protections into their state constitution, states like Alabama proceeded to fully outlaw the procedure, imposing a potential life imprisonment sentence for doctors who violate the law.
Meanwhile, Florida in 2022 muscled a 15-week abortion ban through the Republican-dominated Legislature, though liberal groups sued in Court arguing that a unique clause in the state constitution protects abortion. As litigation raged into the next year, Gov. DeSantis then signed a hotly contested six-week abortion ban into law ahead of his soon-to-be failed presidential bid, which was specifically written to take the place of the 15-week ban if the state Supreme Court agreed that it was legal.
The 15-week ban was approved in April—promptly triggering the six-week ban in its place—and enacted the following month, leading groups like Floridians Protecting Freedom to draw up petitions to get abortion onto the ballot for voters to decide upon. Over a few months, they gathered nearly a million signatures in favor of Amendment 4, which would enshrine abortion access until fetal viability (around 24 weeks) in the state constitution.
The DeSantis administration, seven months after the petition signatures were verified, is now investigating tens of thousands of petitions for potential fraud. The Department of State claims they have found evidence of fraudulent petitions, and are currently partnered with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement on the hunt for fake signatures.
Florida Democrats, The Floridian reported, insist that DeSantis is to blame for the Amendment that he has so vigorously fought against—including hosting faith-based meetings to discuss the amendment, calling out congressional Republicans by name who have not publicly opposed the measure, supporting a long-time ally who helped configure a statement that will be on the ballot implying that abortions will be publicly funded, and allowing a top aide to chair a committee against the amendment.
"The restrictive bans imposed by the legislature and the governor have forced the amendment to exist so that women have a right to choose," said Florida Sen. Democratic Leader Lauren Book in a statement to The Floridian. "A six-week ban is not in line with what the people of Florida want and so we're giving the power back to the people with Amendment 4."
Amendment 4 will be on the ballot for voters on Nov. 5. If 60% approve it, the measure will amend the state constitution.
