At a press conference in Coral Gables on Monday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was flanked by doctors as they declared Amendment 4 deceptive and dangerous.
“Abortions can be performed to protect the life and the health of the mother,” DeSantis said while adding, “there is nothing ever in Florida law that would prevent a Florida physician from providing appropriate medical treatment."
“Changing the existing laws with an amendment like this will, in fact, open women to risks,” said Dr. Christina Pena, an obstetrician and gynecologist who opposes Amendment 4, which would add abortion protections to the state’s constitution.
The press conference came on the same day a newly filed court record revealed how recent efforts in the state’s fight to defeat Amendment 4, by threatening TV stations that aired a pro-choice political ad, ultimately led a DeSantis attorney to abruptly resign earlier this month.
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In an affidavit filed Monday morning as part of an ongoing federal court case over the state’s threatening letters to TV stations, John Wilson, the former general counsel for the Florida Department of Health, stated he “did not draft the letters or participate in any discussion about the letters prior to October 3, 2024.”
Instead, Wilson stated that he was directed by Gov. DeSantis’ general counsel, Ryan Newman, and deputy general counsel Jed Doty, to “send them under my name and on the behalf of the Florida Department of Health.”
One week after doing as he was told, Wilson quit, telling the court in the affidavit, “I resigned from my position as general counsel in lieu of complying with directives from Newman and Doty to send out further correspondence to the media outlets,” Wilson stated.
Wilson’s account is the first time we’re hearing details about tactics the DeSantis administration is using on its own employees as part of its taxpayer-funded fight to defeat Amendment 4, which is one of the most controversial ballot initiatives this election.
In response to Wilson’s affidavit, Julia Friedland, Deputy Press Secretary for the governor, did not deny Wilson’s account of what happened but stated, “these current stories all look past the core issue — the ads are unequivocally false and put the lives and health of pregnant women at risk. Florida’s heartbeat protection law always protects the life of a mother and includes exceptions for victims of rape, incest, and human trafficking.”
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Floridians Protecting Freedom, which is leading the Yes on 4 campaign, filed the lawsuit and initially included Wilson as a defendant. The group has since taken Wilson out of the lawsuit.
“It's incredibly scary that this is the kind of thing that we're seeing out of our government,” said Natasha Sutherland, senior advisor of the organization’s Yes on 4 campaign, about Wilson’s revelations. “People who are employed by a state agency aren't able to just freely do their jobs without any type of coercion or intimidation."
The letters, which were sent out to TV stations across the state, threatened broadcasters with criminal prosecution if they did not stop airing a 30-second ad featuring a Tampa woman who described how the state’s current six-week ban could have killed her when she was diagnosed with brain cancer while pregnant.
The E.W. Scripps company owns TV stations across Florida, including WPTV. The company’s chief legal officer said Scripps stations received the warning letter but continued airing the ad, citing the First Amendment.
Sutherland added, “our extreme government and extreme politicians are afraid of the people actually having a say, which is exactly why they've weaponized state government against us and are using taxpayer funds to campaign, because it's really a distraction from the issue at hand,” she said.
Last week, a federal judge agreed and took a swipe at Florida when he ruled the ad was protected political free speech and the state’s threatening letters to stations needed to stop.
In the ruling, Federal District Judge Mark Walker stated, “To keep it simple for the state of Florida: It’s the First Amendment, stupid.”
