TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A lawsuit is coming. Attorneys for the ACLU of Florida said Wednesday they’re going after a state agency for misuse of public dollars to influence voters on abortion access.
In a virtual press conference, the legal team said they’d challenge the state Agency for Health Care Administration for allegedly misusing state funds when it made this TV spot about Amendment Four. It’s that abortion ballot initiative that would undo the six-week ban and take Florida to viability, about 24 weeks with health exceptions.
The ad also sends viewers to this webpage, paid for with state dollars. The site, published by AHCA, says the measure “threatens women’s safety” and criticizes it for breadth and vagueness.
“This website is filled with demonstrably false statements,” said Michelle Morton, Florida ACLU Attorney. “So we're challenging the misuse of taxpayer dollars to lie to voters about this amendment.”
The ACLU was vague on specifics but said to expect its complaint in state court on behalf of the Yes On Four Campaign. Sources told us a filing could drop as soon as Thursday.
“This is not what government is supposed to be,” said Morton. “That's not what government is supposed to do. This is not normal.”
The escalation comes a day after a Palm Beach County attorney, Adam Richardson, offered his own legal challenge. He called on the Florida Supreme Court to weigh in, alleging state officials — including Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) — “have waged a campaign to interfere with the election.”
Justices agreed to fast-track things on Wednesday. They gave parties until the end of the month to respond.
DeSantis, on Monday, defended the webpage and TV spots as being “above board.” He called the effort a "public service announcement" and said the state was informing not persuading.
“It’s being used by the AHCA agency to basically provide accurate information,” said DeSantis. “I think that’s something that’s really important. Quite frankly, a lot of people don’t usually get that in the normal bloodstream.”
AHCA has backed the page as well, telling us in a recent statement:
“Part of the Agency’s mission is to provide information and transparency to Floridians on the quality of care they receive. Our new transparency page serves to educate Floridians on the state’s current abortion laws and provide information on a proposed policy change that would impact care across the state.”
Investigative Reporter Katie LaGrone obtained the most recent batch of Florida teacher exit interviews which detail, in their own words, why teachers left the classroom this summer.
