Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is fighting the Sunshine State's pro-choice measure with all the means at his disposal... even shady ones.
|
Listen To This Story
 |
John Wilson, the former general counsel for the Florida Department of Health, stated in a newly released affidavit that Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R) office directed him to send letters that threatened TV stations with prosecution if they aired an ad in support of an amendment that would enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution.
Earlier this month, the department sent cease-and-desist letters to various TV stations that had aired the spot. It showed a young woman, who says that Florida’s six-week abortion ban would have kept her from getting a potentially life-saving abortion when she was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer two years ago while pregnant.
The letters threatened these stations with criminal charges unless they stopped playing the ad, which encouraged Floridians to vote in favor of Amendment 4, the ballot initiative that would override the state’s abortion ban.
Last week, a federal judge ordered the state’s government to stop sending them.
In the affidavit, Wilson admitted to sending these letters on October 3.
However, he noted that they did not originate in his office.
“I received drafts of the letters directly from Sam Elliot, Assistant General Counsel for the Executive Office of the Governor, earlier that day,” Wilson stated. “I did not draft the letters or participate in any discussions about the letters prior to October 3, 2024.”
He added that two other lawyers from DeSantis’s office directed him “to send them under [his] name and on behalf of the Florida Department of Health.”
Wilson added that he resigned a week later instead of complying with an order to send out further letters.
According to a resignation letter obtained by Florida news outlets, Wilson wrote that “a man is nothing without his conscience.”
DeSantis is strongly opposed to the amendment and has used taxpayer funds to try to defeat it.
He will need it.
Proponents of Amendment 4 have raised $90 million this cycle, including an eye-popping $30 million from September 28 to October 11.
However, DeSantis has other resources at his disposal.
It appears as though his administration may be trying to intimidate residents who signed a petition to get Amendment 4 on the ballot.
For example, the Guardian described the experience of a 71-year-old man who was visited by a detective who showed up on his doorstep and asked why his signature on the petition did not match the one on his driver’s license.
On Monday, DeSantis held a news conference with several doctors in which he sharply criticized the initiative.
“Amendment 4 eliminates the requirement that doctors be involved in abortion procedures, and eliminates the right of parents to consent for their minor children to undergo this major medical procedure,” the governor stated. “If Amendment 4 passes, there would be no meaningful limits on abortion, allowing abortions up to the moment of birth for virtually any reason.”
That rhetoric stands in sharp contrast with the actual language of the amendment, which states:
No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider. This amendment does not change the Legislature’s constitutional authority to require notification to a parent or guardian before a minor has an abortion.
