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US News

Judge tells Florida’s top doctor not to threaten TV stations over abortion-rights ads

By
Associated Press
Published Oct. 18, 2024, 10:36 p.m. ET

A judge has blocked the head of Florida’s state health department from taking any more action to threaten TV stations over an abortion-rights commercial they’ve been airing.

U.S. District Judge Mark Walker’s ruling Thursday sided with Floridians Protecting Freedom, the group that produced the commercial promoting a ballot measure that would add abortion rights to the state constitution if it passes in the Nov. 5 election.

The group filed a lawsuit earlier this week over the state’s communications with stations.

Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo gestures as speaks to supporters and members of the media before a bill signing by Gov. Ron DeSantis Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, in Brandon, Florida
U.S. District Judge Mark Walker blocked state Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo from taking any more action to threaten TV stations over an abortion-rights commercial that has been on the air. AP

“The government cannot excuse its indirect censorship of political speech simply by declaring the disfavored speech is ‘false,’” the judge said in a written opinion.

He added, “To keep it simple for the State of Florida: it’s the First Amendment, stupid.”

State Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo and John Wilson, who was then the top lawyer at the health department before resigning unexpectedly, sent a letter to TV stations on Oct. 3 telling them to stop running an FPF ad, asserting that it was false and dangerous.

The letter also says it could be subject to criminal proceedings.

FPF said about 50 stations were running the ad and that most or all of them received the letter — and at least one stopped running the commercial.

The group said the state was wrong when it claimed that assertions in the commercial were false.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis holds up a 15-week abortion ban law after signing it on April 14, 2022, in Kissimmee, Florida
Walker’s ruling sided with the group Floridians Protecting Freedom, who produced the commercial while also promoting a ballot measure that would add abortion rights to the state constitution if it passes in the Nov. 5 election. AP

The state’s objection was to a woman’s assertion that the abortion she received in 2022 after she was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor would not be allowed under current state law.

The state hasn’t changed its position. In a statement Thursday, a spokesperson for the health department again said that the ads are “unequivocally false.”

The judge’s order bars further action from the state until Oct. 29, when he’s planning a hearing on the question.

The ballot measure is one of nine similar ones across the country, but the campaign over it is the most expensive so far, with ads costing about $160 million, according to the media tracking firm AdImpact.

It would require the approval of 60% of voters to be adopted and would override the state law that bans abortion in most cases after the first six weeks of pregnancy, which is before women often realize they’re pregnant.

The administration of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has taken multiple steps against the ballot measure campaign.