DeSantis administration, which claims to oppose censorship, tries to pressure TV station to take down Amendment 4 ads

Photo by Sergio Flores /AFP via Getty Images

By Giselle Balido

October 7, 2024

A letter from the Florida Department of Health threatened a Tampa TV station with a lawsuit if it fails to remove an ad promoting the pro-choice amendment on the November ballot.

In its latest effort to derail an amendment that seeks to restore reproductive rights across the state, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration has threatened an NBC-affiliate TV station in Tampa with legal action for airing a campaign ad for Amendment 4, the citizen-led initiative that seeks to overturn Gov. Ron DeSantis’ six-week abortion ban that went into effect in May.

If it passes in Nov. with at least 60% of the vote, Amendment 4 would enshrine the right to abortion care in the state’s constitution, effectively overturning DeSantis’ six-week ban.

The ad in question aired in Florida during the vice-presidential debate between Tim Walz and JD Vance. It features a woman who needed to have an abortion and cancer treatments after a brain tumor diagnosis in 2022, a situation that could have had devastating consequences for the woman and her family if she had been unable to get care under the state’s current abortion ban.

“The doctors knew that if I did not end my pregnancy, I would lose my baby, I would lose my life, and my daughter would lose her mom,” the woman named Caroline says in the ad. “Florida has now banned abortion … even in cases like mine. Amendment 4 is going to protect women like me.”

RELATED: DeSantis claims he’s “exempt” from law banning interference with Amendment 4

The Florida Department of Health’s letter calling the ad “false” and “dangerous” was sent October 3 to WFLA TV’s vice president Mark Higgins. It was shared on social media by investigative journalist Jason Garcia.

In the letter, the Health Department claims the ad is illegal under section 386.01 of a Florida law that allows the state to remove any “nuisance” that “threatens or impairs” people’s health. It went on to warn that if the ad was not removed within 24 hours, the department would initiate legal proceedings to obtain an injunction.

WFLA has not yet replied to a request for an update.

The DeSantis administration’s effort to force WFLA to remove the ad seems to conflict with DeSantis’ previous claims that he opposes censorship, supports free speech, and that he’s made Florida the freest state in the country — contradictions that Nikki Fried, chair of the Florida Democratic Party, was quick to point out.

“Floridians, this is not democracy!” said Nikki Fried, chair of the Florida Democratic Party. “We do not live in a free state, free of government interference, free of government intimidation and free of government overreach.”

“The DeSantis regime is threatening TV stations with prosecution for running ads supporting abortion rights and Amendment 4,” added former state Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, who is running for the state Senate. “Florida is not a free state.”

The Leon County Democrats also criticized the DeSantis administration’s effort.

“Outrageous bullying using the government. Pure fascism,” the local party wrote on X.

Continued attacks on Amendment 4

This is not the first time the DeSantis administration has tried to thwart the amendment to codify the right to an abortion in the state constitution.

In its efforts to derail the grassroots initiative, the DeSantis administration launched a taxpayer-funded website run by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration that claims that Amendment 4 “threatens women’s safety,” even though it would merely restore the previous standard of Roe v. Wade, which required abortion to be legal until fetal viability, which is usually around 24 weeks (or when necessary after that to protect a patient’s health, as determined by their healthcare provider).

And early in September, Florida voters who signed a petition to place Amendment 4 on the ballot found themselves face to face with election police officers who visited them at home, claiming to be investigating possible petition fraud by inspecting thousands of already-validated signatures.

RELATED: Kamala Harris’ fight for reproductive freedom takes center stage in 2024

Author

Giselle Balido

Giselle is Floricua's political correspondent. She writes about the economy, environmental and social justice, and all things Latino. A published author, Giselle was born in Havana and grew up in New Jersey and Miami. She is passionate about equality, books, and cats.

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CATEGORIES: REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS

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