DeSantis administration threatens local TV station 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 byFlorida’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