Abortion rights group sues to stop DeSantis administration lobbying TV networks

The group behind a Florida ballot measure to protect abortion rights in the state filed a lawsuit Wednesday morning against DeSantis administration officials, alleging they are engaged in an “unconstitutional” campaign to attack the referendum “using public resources and government authority”.

The lawsuit, filed by Floridians Protecting Freedom, is a direct response to cease-and-desist letters that officials in the Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) administration sent to television networks earlier this month, to prevent to run ads advocating for the passage of Amendment 4. The ballot measure seeks to codify access to abortion in the Sunshine State’s constitution, and will go to voters in November. Abortion is currently prohibited after six weeks in Florida.

The suit was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida, Tallahassee Division, against State Surgeon General and Head of the Florida Department of Health Joseph Ladapo, in his official capacity, and John Wilson, Florida’s former attorney general. Department of Health, individually. It claims the defendants violated FPF’s First Amendment rights by threatening sanctions against media organizations that aired their political ads in support of Amendment 4, a proposition DeSantis opposes.

“The United States Supreme Court has firmly held that ‘(g) government officials may not attempt to coerce private parties to punish or suppress views that the government disfavors,'” the complaint said. “FPF’s ad is pure political speech at the heart of First Amendment protections.”

“‘(The) advocacy of a politically controversial point of view’ is, in fact, ‘the essence of First Amendment expression,'” the lawsuit continued. “The state’s threats of sanctions against third-party media organizations that host the ad, in a callous effort to silence FPF’s speech, is a classic and deeply disturbing example of unconstitutional coercion.”

Spokespeople for the Florida Department of Health and the governor’s office did not immediately respond to TPM’s request for comment.

FPF is seeking an injunction to prevent the DeSantis administration from “taking further action to coerce, threaten, or intimate repercussion” against television networks or other broadcasters for airing FPF’s ads or from “taking coercive action against FPF for post political ads or engage in other speech protected by the First Amendment,” according to the complaint.

The group is also seeking compensatory and punitive damages, as well as attorneys’ fees, for what it describes as the administration’s “egregious” and “willful” violation of FPF’s First Amendment rights.

“The state of Florida’s crusade against Amendment 4 is unconstitutional government interference, period,” said Lauren Brenzel, the group’s campaign director, in a statement shared with TPM. “The State cannot coerce television stations because they remove political speech from the airwaves in an attempt to maintain the ban on abortion.”

“We will continue our campaign in the face of this blatant government interference,” Brenzel added, “but we must stay focused and continue to organize our communities because the choice this November is to maintain an almost total ban on abortion with no real exceptions. for rape, incest or women’s health OR vote YES on Amendment 4 and limit the government from interfering with private medical decisions.”

FPF’s lawsuit comes just two weeks after the DeSantis administration’s Department of Health sent a letter to some state television stations, suggesting they could face criminal charges for airing ads that encourage voters to support amendment 4.

The letter, first reported by Florida investigative reporter Jason Garcia, claimed the ads violated Florida’s “health nuisance” law and suggested the stations could be committing a misdemeanor by airing them.

The DeSantis administration is now trying to bully TV networks into pulling ads supporting Amendment 4 — the constitutional amendment on the November ballot that would overturn the near-total abortion ban that Ron DeSantis signed last year pic.twitter.com/XIbCCTUfXQ

— Jason Garcia (@Jason_Garcia) October 5, 2024

Wilson, the former Florida Department of Health general counsel named as a defendant in FPF’s lawsuit, argued that the ad in question, “Caroline,” which was sponsored by FPF’s “Yes on the 4” campaign , was spreading information that is “categorically false” and “dangerous” saying Florida’s six-week abortion ban threatens the lives and well-being of pregnant women.

Despite what the DeSantis Department of Health claims, the six-week ban implemented in Florida is vague about protected exceptions. It has led to dangerous delays and denials of care to pregnant people in the state and has criminalized certain types of medical care, according to a recent report by Physicians For Human Rights.

The DeSantis administration’s cease-and-desist letter is not the first or only effort by the Republican governor to discourage or intimidate supporters of the abortion rights amendment.

Last month, The Tampa Bay Times and other local media reported that police were showing up at the homes of Florida residents who signed a petition to help get Amendment 4 on the ballot. People reported being questioned by police about whether they actually signed the petition, according to the news outlet.

Some residents said plainclothes police officers asked for verification that they had signed the petition, claiming they were investigating possible signature fraud. Some said police even asked for their identification, driver’s licenses or confirmed signatures, according to reports from the Tampa Bay Times and the Miami Herald.

Several county officials also confirmed to the Miami Herald last month that they had been contacted by the Florida Department of State, which copied the signatures.

And last week, the DeSantis administration released a report accusing FPF organizers of “widespread petition fraud” in gathering signatures to get the initiative on the ballot next month.

The report claims organizers illegally paid circulators for the number of signatures they collected and submitted a “large number of forged signatures or fraudulent petitions” to get the amendment on the ballot.

The DeSantis administration also announced a $328,000 fine against the group.

“This campaign has been conducted above and beyond state law at every turn,” Brenzel, the campaign manager, told TPM. “What we are seeing now are nothing but dishonest distractions and desperate attempts to silence voters.”

The DeSantis administration also created a statewide website attacking the amendment and have been running ads promoting the current restrictive law.

Read the complaint here: