An abortion rights group called Floridians Protecting Freedom sued state officials Wednesday over alleged censorship.
At the heart of this case is an ad that the group recently released as part of their campaign for a Florida abortion rights ballot measure. The ad started airing on October 1 on roughly 50 TV stations, according to the group.
In the ad, a woman tells the story of how she was diagnosed with brain cancer while pregnant with her second child. She was able to get an abortion but said current restrictions ban the procedure “even in cases like mine.”
Earlier this month, the Florida Department of Health told the stations to stop airing the ad because it was false and dangerous. The department warned that letting the ad continue to run could result in criminal proceedings.
To block Florida from initiating criminal complaints against the stations running the ad, Floridians Protecting Freedom filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Tallahassee on Wednesday. State Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, who leads the department, and its former general counsel, John Wilson, are named in the suit.
In the suit, the group alleges that the state’s action toward TV stations was part of a campaign to attack the abortion rights ballot measure “using public resources and government authority to advance the State’s preferred characterization of its anti-abortion laws as the ‘truth’ and denigrate opposing viewpoints as ‘lies.'”
An abortion rights activist holds a sign at a protest in support of abortion access on July 13, 2022, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. An abortion rights group called Floridians Protecting Freedom sued state officials Wednesday over alleged censorship.
John Parra/Getty Images for MoveOn
In the ad, the woman said, “The doctors knew if I did not end my pregnancy, I would lose my baby, I would lose my life, and my daughter would lose her mom.”
This assertion, Florida officials told the TV stations airing the ad, is “categorically false,” because someone can get an abortion after six weeks if it’s to save to life of the pregnant patient or “avert a serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function.”
Meanwhile, the abortion rights group says that that exception to the six-week abortion ban would not have applied to the woman in the ad because she had a terminal diagnosis. Abortion did not save her life, it only extended it, the group argued.
Florida’s health department did not immediately respond to a request for comment by The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Florida voters will decide whether to pass the abortion rights ballot measure, known as Amendment 4, in the November 5 election. If it is approved by at least 60 percent of voters in the nation’s third most populous state, the amendment to the state constitution would make abortion legal up until the pregnant patient’s healthcare provider determines the fetus is viable.
Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in the summer of 2022, Florida along with about 20 other states enacted some type of abortion ban.
In Florida, it is illegal to perform or get an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, which, according to Planned Parenthood, is before many people even know they are pregnant. There are exceptions for rape, incest and human trafficking up to 15 weeks. Abortions in Florida are allowed if it would save the life of the pregnant patient or prevent substantial physical harm as Florida’s health officials have noted.
This new lawsuit is part of an ongoing legal battle between Florida officials and advocates for abortion rights.
Last month, the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida (ACLU) and Southern Legal Counsel sued Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) on behalf of Floridians Protecting Freedom.
The lawsuit alleges that the health agency used taxpayer money to carry out a “misinformation” campaign against Amendment 4 using a website, television and radio ads.
The website, which was launched in September, defends Florida’s six-week abortion ban and states that “Amendment 4 threatens women’s safety” under a banner that reads “Florida is Protecting Life” and “Don’t let the fearmongers lie to you.”
The lawsuit calls for the court to immediately stop the health agency’s alleged messaging push and what is argued as the unlawful use of taxpayer money by state officials to aid a political campaign. These actions are claimed to be infringing on Florida’s voters’ rights, according to the suit.
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.
