Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) last week continued his full-court press against a pro-choice ballot measure that will be in front of the state’s voters in a month.
DeSantis’ administration is threatening to bring criminal charges against a local news channel that aired an advertisement in support of the abortion rights measure, Amendment 4, which would overturn DeSantis’ six-week abortion ban and restore access to the procedure until fetal viability.
The Florida governor has spent substantial amounts of taxpayer money to fight Amendment 4, including by weaponizing a nonpartisan government agency to spread misinformation and launching an unprecedented investigation into petition signatures already verified by the state, alleging a need to combat voter fraud.
Last week, Florida’s Department of Health sent a letter to a local NBC affiliate suggesting that an ad in support of Amendment 4 violates the state’s so-called “sanitary nuisance” law. The letter, first reported by journalist Jason Garcia, claims that the news channel may be committing a second-degree misdemeanor, and that its employees could be penalized with a 60-day jail sentence.
It’s unclear if the agency only sent the letter to the NBC affiliate, or to others as well. Either way, a threat like this could have a chilling effect on publicly advocating for the pro-choice measure, just weeks away from when it will be in front of voters. Florida’s Department of Health did not respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.
The sanitary nuisance law is meant to curb conditions that can threaten or impair Floridians’ health. It normally pertains to issues like overflowing septic tanks and problematic garbage disposals. Instead, DeSantis’ Department of Health is applying the sanitary nuisance law to an ad titled “Caroline,” in which a Tampa mother talks about being diagnosed with brain cancer while pregnant. Caroline needed to get an abortion in order to receive lifesaving cancer treatment, but she was not able to get one in Florida. She ended up traveling out of state to get abortion care.
“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,” Caroline says in the ad, which was paid for by Floridians Protecting Freedom, the pro-choice group behind Amendment 4. “Florida has now banned abortion even in cases like mine.”
The state Health Department claims that the ad is “false” and “dangerous” because Florida’s six-week abortion ban includes an exception for the life and health of the mother. Caroline should have been able to get an abortion in Florida to save her life, the agency claims. But in reality, the ban’s exceptions are vague and do not offer clarity about how sick or near death a pregnant person needs to be for a physician to provide a lifesaving abortion. If a doctor is accused of providing an abortion too soon, they face losing their license and a five-year prison sentence. It’s particularly unclear when the lifesaving abortion exception applies to cancer patients like Caroline.
“Floridians, THIS is not democracy!” Nikki Fried, chair of the Florida Democratic Party, tweeted in response to the Health Department’s letter. “We do not live in a free state, free of government interference, free of government intimidation and free of government overreach.”
There have been several documented cases where pregnant patients were not able to get life- or health-saving abortion care under Florida’s near-total ban. In order to qualify for a lifesaving exception, patients need to get two physicians to sign off on an abortion. Abortion providers have told HuffPost that the vague wording of the ban, coupled with the criminal punishments for doctors, deters physicians from signing off on necessary procedures.
“While your company enjoys the right to broadcast political advertisements under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article I, section 4 of the Florida Constitution, that right does not include free rein to disseminate false advertisements which, if believed, would likely have a detrimental effect on the lives and health of pregnant women in Florida,” the letter from the Department of Health to the NBC affiliate reads.
Regardless of whether the advertisement is true or false, it should still be protected by the First Amendment, explains Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern. Garcia also notes that while DeSantis is trying to muzzle pro-choice groups, his administration is running several TV commercials attacking Amendment 4. The commercials, funded by taxpayer dollars, are running everywhere from ESPN and Fox News to the Weather Channel.
In response to the letter, the legal team for Floridians Protecting Freedom said the “Caroline” advertisement is completely true, and that the Health Department’s letter “raises serious First Amendment concerns.”
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“The Department cannot criminalize media outlets running political advertisements with which it disagrees,” attorneys on behalf of the pro-choice group wrote to the NBC affiliate in a letter provided to HuffPost. “Speech criticizing the government in the context of a political campaign is the lifeblood of democracy and lies at the very heart of the First Amendment’s protections. The Department’s letter is a flagrant abuse of power, and it should be rejected out of hand.”