DeSantis threatens local TV stations for airing abortion rights campaign ads

Ron DeSantis’s administration has appeared to threaten a local TV station with legal action for airing an abortion rights campaign ad.

The ad in question is the same one that aired in Florida during the vice presidential debate between Tim Walz and JD Vance. It features a woman named Caroline who needed to have an abortion and cancer treatments after a brain tumor diagnosis in 2022.

Such a difficult situation would have been complicated by Florida’s six-week abortion ban today.

“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 says. “Florida has now banned abortion … even in cases like mine. Amendment 4 is gonna protect women like me.”

The letter — dated October 3 and sent by the Florida Department of Health to WFLA TV’s vice president Mark Higgins — was shared on social media by journalist Jason Garcia, who accused the administration of “trying to intimidate” the TV station.

The DeSantis administration had previously been accused of using his election police dragnet to target citizens who signed a petition that successfully put Amendment 4 on November’s ballots.

Florida is one of several states with reproductive rights on the ballot this November. If passed, Amendment 4 would enshrine the right to abortion care in the state’s constitution, effectively overturning the six-week ban.

The department claims the ad is illegal under section 386.01 of Florida law that allows the state to remove any “nuisance” that “threatens or impairs” people’s health.

“The advertisement is not only false; it is dangerous,” the letter reads.

The Health Department said that if the ad is not removed within 24 hours, the department will initiate legal proceedings to obtain an injunction.

Critics have accused the state government of “fascism” and trying to silence political rivals.

Leon County Democrats responded: “Outrageous bullying using the government. Pure fascism.”

“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.”

Amendment 4 would codify the right to an abortion at any point before fetal viability, and prevent laws in the state from restricting access before that point. It would also prevent laws from interfering with abortions after that point in the pregnancy if necessary to “protect the patient’s health”.

Florida’s ban on abortion at roughly six weeks of pregnancny — before many women know they are pregnant — is among the most severe anti-abortion laws in the country.

It came into effect this past May after the Supreme Court revoked a constitutional right to abortion by overturning Roe vs Wade in 2022.

Florida’s six-week ban, like its 12-week predecessor, has exceptions for women whose lives are endangered by their pregnancies, but hospitals and medical providers have been hesitant to test such exceptions.

The Independent has requested comment from the Florida Department of Health and WFLA TV.