A Florida district judge issued a temporary restraining order Thursday, halting the state government from threatening to proceed with legal measures against television stations over pro-abortion ads.
Floridians Protecting Freedom, the pro-abortion collective behind the Amendment 4 Right to Abortion Initiative, which would end Florida’s 6-week abortion ban by enshrining abortion in the state’s constitution, filed its suit against Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo and former general counsel to the Florida Department of Health John Wilson earlier this week.
Amendment 4’s language states, “No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider.”
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The suit was spurred after the Florida Department of Health sent letters to television stations broadcasting the pro-abortion ads, wherein the department stated the advertisements were “false” and “dangerous.” The department proceeded to request that the ads be removed within 24 hours, or it would proceed with legal measures.
Floridians Protecting Freedom argued that such a move was a violation of the collective’s First Amendment right to run political advertisements in support of the proposed amendment.
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“While Defendant Ladapo refuses to even agree with this simple fact, Plaintiff’s political advertisement is political speech—speech at the core of the First Amendment,” District Judge Mark E. Walker wrote in the order.
“The government cannot excuse its indirect censorship of political speech simply by declaring the disfavored speech is ‘false.’ ‘The very purpose of the First Amendment is to foreclose public authority from assuming a guardianship of the public mind through regulating the press, speech, and religion,'” Walker continued, quoting a U.S. Supreme Court opinion.
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“The fact is, these ads are unequivocally false and detrimental to public health in Florida,” Jae Williams, communications director for the Florida Department of Health, said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “The media continues to ignore the truth that Florida’s heartbeat protection law always protects the life of a mother and includes exceptions for victims of rape, incest, and human trafficking.”
Lauren Brenzel, campaign director of Yes on 4, called the order a “triumph for every Floridian who believes in democracy and the sanctity of the First Amendment” in a statement released shortly after the order was issued.
“The court has affirmed what we’ve known all along: the government cannot silence the truth about Florida’s extreme abortion ban. It’s a deadly ban that puts women’s lives at risk,” the statement continued. “This ruling is a powerful reminder that Floridians will not back down in the face of government intimidation.”
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Gov. Ron DeSantis deputy press secretary Julia Friedland told Fox News Digital in a statement, “Surprise, surprise, the most overturned judge on the district court issued another order that excites the press, but these current stories all look past the core issue – the ads are unequivocally false and put the lives and health of pregnant women at risk. Florida’s heartbeat protection law always protects the life of a mother and includes exceptions for victims of rape, incest and human trafficking.”
The order is set to expire on Oct. 29.
Former President Donald Trump previously called Florida’s proposed amendment “radical” in an interview with Fox News but also said he believes Florida’s six-week abortion ban is too short.
“You need more time than six weeks. I’ve disagreed with that right from the early primaries,” Trump told Fox News in August. “When I heard about it, I disagreed with it. At the same time, the Democrats are radical because the nine months is just a ridiculous situation.”
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