Another lawsuit! Pro-abortion advocates sue DeSantis Admin over ad-related threats, censorship

The group behind Florida's proposed abortion rights amendment filed a lawsuit Wednesday claiming First Amendment violations against Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration after a state agency threatened to criminally charge TV stations airing the campaign's allegedly "dangerous" pro-abortion ad.

Floridians Protecting Freedom, the group who got the pro-abortion Amendment 4 on the ballot, slammed the state for attempting to illegally "coerce" TV stations into removing the campaign's ad to "keep their abortion ban in place."

They're claiming censorship.

"The state's coercion is a textbook violation of the First Amendment," FPF said in a press release sent out Wednesday morning, soon after they filed suit in North Florida's U.S. District Court against Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo and John Wilson, the former General Counsel to the Florida Department of Health.

"The state cannot advance a favored viewpoint and silence those advancing a different political message—in fact, the First Amendment protects the people against this kind of viewpoint discrimination," the campaign added. They hope to block state departments from trying to remove any more of their ads, get punitive damages, and have their attorneys' costs paid for.

On Oct. 3, Wilson sent a series of cease-and-desist letters to various TV stations airing a 30-second ad featuring a woman named Caroline who became pregnant after a brain cancer diagnosis. Caroline says, "Florida has now banned abortions, even in cases like mine," before urging Floridians to vote "yes" on Amendment 4, which would overturn the state's six-week ban on the procedure.

Wilson claimed this was "categorically false," "dangerous," and constitutes a "sanitary nuisance," pointing out that the six week ban allows women to get abortions at any stage in life-threatening circumstances. He warned that if TV stations continued to air the ad, they will be branded with a second-degree misdemeanor.

Days later, he resigned.

This is only the latest legal dispute involving the controversial amendment, which will become part of the state constitution if 60%  of voters approve it in November. First, Gov. DeSantis and Attorney General Ashley Moody challenged the Amendment's language to the state Supreme Court, claiming it was too vague to go to voters.

The Court disagreed.

Next, FPF tried to strike a financial impact statement added to the ballot implying that abortions may become publicly funded.

The Court said no.

Last month, the state Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) created a website on their state page advocating against the "dangerous" Amendment 4. In response, a Lake Worth attorney, FPF, and the Florida Democrats filed court cases against the state alleging abuse of authority and taxpayer resources.

(Of note, AHCA is also locked in a separate legal battle after refusing to grant a Pensacola abortion clinic a license, despite a recommendation from an administrative law judge).

All cases except for the Florida Democrats'—which is still pending—have been dismissed.

Early Saturday morning, the Secretary of State dropped a 348-page report alleging that FPF and their "Yes on 4" campaign are tied to thousands of fraudulent petitions that got the amendment on the ballot. This has caused speculation that the Governor's office may be gearing up to challenge Amendment 4's existence on the ballot—again—and try to strike it altogether.

However, ballots have already been printed and people have already begun voting, so it remains to be seen how the courts would handle another attempt to kill the amendment.

And lastly (so far), the Department of Health versus Floridians Protecting Freedom on their arguably misleading advertisement.

"The State cannot coerce television stations into removing political speech from the airwaves in an attempt to keep their abortion ban in place,” Yes on 4 director Lauren Brenzel said in a statement. “We will continue our campaign in the face of this blatant government interference, but we must remain focused.”

The election is Nov. 5.