A federal judge on Thursday issued a temporary restraining order against Florida’s surgeon general, the latest development in a legal battle over a television ad supporting the state’s abortion rights ballot measure. Earlier this month, the Florida Department of Health sent cease-and-desist letters to multiple broadcast stations that had aired the ad, threatening criminal charges against stations that didn’t stop playing it. The advertisement encourages people in Florida to vote “yes” on a ballot initiative that would add language to the state constitution allowing abortions until fetal viability.
The amendment would override Florida’s six-week abortion ban. The campaign ad features a woman named Caroline with terminal brain cancer who needed to end her pregnancy in order to receive treatment that could extend her life. The letters sent to broadcast stations describe the ad as false and dangerous, emphasizing that Florida’s current abortion law makes an exception for the life of the mother.
They suggested that women who believe otherwise might seek abortions out of state, which “would threaten or impair” their health. Floridians Protecting Freedom, the group behind the ad, filed a lawsuit on Wednesday requesting a restraining order to prevent the health department from coercing or threatening TV stations that aired the group’s ads. In a bluntly worded order, Chief U.
S. District Judge Mark Walker sided with the plaintiffs. The restraining order against Flor.
