Florida health officials sued for censorship over abortion campaign ad

The citizen-led ballot initiative Floridians Protecting Freedom has filed a lawsuit against state health officials alleging political speech has been censored in the state.

The Florida Department of Health previously sent a cease and desist letter to television stations across Florida that aired an ad in support of an abortion-rights ballot initiative, Amendment 4.

The ballot initiative would enshrine abortion rights into the state constitution, overturning the current law that bans abortion after six weeks of pregnancy.

The advertisement is sponsored by Floridians Protecting Freedom and features a woman named Caroline who was diagnosed with brain cancer while pregnant. She made the decision to have an abortion so she could receive life-extending cancer treatment.

Florida’s Department of Health said the description of the law is false and warned TV stations across the state that it contained false information that violated the state’s “sanitary nuisance laws.”

The ballot initiative’s campaign director, Lauren Brenzel, said in a statement that the department’s letters were “unconstitutional government interference.”

“The State cannot coerce television stations into removing political speech from the airwaves in an attempt to keep their abortion ban in place,” Brenzel’s statement said. “We will continue our campaign in the face of this blatant government interference, but we must remain focused.”

The lawsuit was filed against Joseph Ladapo, state surgeon general and head of the Florida Department of Health, and John Wilson, the former general counsel of the department.

The campaign argues its ad is a “core political speech” that is protected under the First Amendment, and the state is violating the freedom of speech.

“The State cannot advance a favored viewpoint and silence those advancing a different political message — in fact, the First Amendment protects the people against this kind of viewpoint discrimination,” Floridians Protecting Freedom said in a statement.

The Hill has reached out to the Florida Department of Health for comment.