TALLAHASSEE — Lawyers for Gov. Ron DeSantis wrote letters threatening legal action against TV stations running ads promoting an abortion rights ballot initiative — and then forced the chief lawyer for the Florida Department of Health to send them, according to newly filed court documents. John Wilson, the former general counsel for the health department, said in an affidavit filed in federal court in North Florida that he was ordered by the governor’s top lawyers to send the letters under his name and on behalf of the department.
“I did not draft the letters or participate in any discussions about the letters,” Wilson said. The affidavit was filed Monday in a l awsuit brought against the health department by Floridians Protecting Freedom, the organization sponsoring the abortion rights measure, Amendment 4. A judge last week blocked any legal action by the state health department as the suit is proceeding.
DeSantis signed a six-week abortion ban into law last year, is opposed to Amendment 4 and has been urging voters to say “no” to it on their November ballot. If 60% or more of the voters approve the measure, it would make abortion available up to viability, usually about 24 weeks into a pregnancy, or to protect the patient’s health. The health department letters targeted a 30-second TV spot featuring a woman named Caroline who shared her difficulties as a pregnant woman who needed an abortion to receive life-extending treatment after learning she had terminal.