With less than two weeks before Election Day and early voting now in progress in the Sunshine State, the knives are coming out over a Florida ballot initiative called Amendment 4, which purports to "limit government interference with abortion."
Amendment 4, if approved by voters, would be a state constitutional amendment legalizing abortion up to the point of "viability," but it’s filled with legal flaws.
It doesn’t define terms such as "viability," "health," or "healthcare provider," and would permit minor children to receive the procedure without parental consent.
It was proposed in response to a Florida new law that bans the procedure after six weeks gestation — when a heartbeat is generally detected. It includes exceptions up to 15 weeks gestation in cases of rape, incest, or human trafficking.
As Election Day approaches, Floridians Protecting Freedom, the group sponsoring the proposal, began running a deceptive TV ad.
It depicts a woman 18 weeks into her pregnancy, who is diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. Her physicians tell her they’re unable to treat her with either chemotherapy or radiation while carrying a child, so she undergoes an abortion.
The ad claims that Florida’s six-week ban would prohibit an abortion under these circumstances.
However, Florida permits abortions at any stage of pregnancy if required to save the life of the mother or to “avert a serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function.”
Shortly after the ad began airing, the DeSantis administration sent a letter to the stations running the ad.
"The Florida Department of Health has been notified that your company is disseminating a political advertisement claiming that current Florida law does not allow physicians to perform abortions necessary to preserve the lives and health of pregnant women," the letter said.
"The advertisement is not only false; it is dangerous," the letter continued.
"Women faced with pregnancy complications posing a serious risk of death or substantial and irreversible physical impairment may and should seek medical treatment in Florida."
The state acknowledged that the stations and Floridians Protecting Freedom enjoy First Amendment freedom of speech protections but added that those protections don’t "include free rein to disseminate false advertisements which, if believed, would likely have a detrimental effect on the lives and health of pregnant women in Florida."
Floridians Protecting Freedom filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, and last week Chief Judge Mark Walker sided with the plaintiffs.
He granted a temporary restraining order blocking the DeSantis administration "from taking any further actions to coerce, threaten, or intimate repercussions directly or indirectly to television stations, broadcasters, or other parties for airing" the ads.
In the meantime, John Wilson, the former general counsel for the Florida Department of Health, and the person who signed the letters that were directed to the TV stations that ran the deceptive ads, resigned from his position.
Down but not out, Gov. Ron DeSantis appeared with two physicians at a Coral Gables, Fla. press conference to reassert the protections that the Florida law provides, which are ignored in the ad.
"Abortions can be performed to protect the life and the health of the mother … there is nothing ever in Florida law that would prevent a Florida physician from providing appropriate medical treatment," DeSantis said.
Dr. Christina Pena, an obstetrician and gynecologist who accompanied the governor, agreed, and predicted that "changing the existing laws with an amendment like this will, in fact, open women to risks."
The deceptive claims made in the TV ads that the state of Florida attempted to get shelved are similar to those being made about the death of Georgia resident Amber Thurman, who died from complications after receiving an abortion pill in a neighboring state.
Vice President Kamala Harris has been especially vocal in blaming Georgia’s abortion laws — similar to Florida’s — for her death.
Her family finally had enough and told Harris to stop politicizing her death.
Nonetheless, it’s hard to fault the judge in this case.
The First Amendment’s freedom of speech guarantees have few exceptions, and Amendment 4’s proponents are relying on that to meet the 60% supermajority threshold vote needed to approve a state constitutional amendment.
We can’t let them.
Republicans and conservatives who publish voter guides such as "Jack’s Voter Guide" for Palm Beach County in Jack Furnari's site, Florida Jolt News, all urge Republicans to vote "No" on Amendment 4.
And early voting is heavily favoring the GOP.
As of Monday, the first day of early, in-person voting in the Sunshine State, Republican turnout overtook the lead enjoyed by Democrats in mail-in votes.
If the Republican Party stands for anything, it stands for freedom, and there’s no greater freedom on Earth than life.
Without life, no other freedoms matter.
Michael Dorstewitz is a retired lawyer and has been a frequent contributor to Newsmax. He is also a former U.S. Merchant Marine officer and a Second Amendment supporter. Read Michael Dorstewitz's Reports — More Here.
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