The Second Judicial Circuit Court has issued an order rejecting the ACLU’s attempt to silence Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Agency for Health Care Administration regarding Amendment 4, the extreme abortion amendment that would allow abortion up to and during birth.
Florida health officials will continue with their First Amendment right to speak in their official capacities on matters of public concern, especially on issues affecting their constituents. The order allows Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration to continue addressing Amendment 4, including the lies perpetrated by Planned Parenthood and the ACLU about the amendment and Florida’s six week “Heartbeat Law.”
The order denies a request for a temporary restraining order from a pro-abortion group to keep the state from speaking out against the abortion amendment.
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Circuit Judge Jonathan Stafford sided with the Florida officials stating the courts should not interfere and decide what Floridians are permitted to hear or not hear.
“In an election campaign under these circumstances the political power reserved to the people in Article I, Section 1 of the Florida Constitution means that it is not for the courts to intervene in this referendum campaign to decide what the people will be permitted to consider,” wrote Judge Stafford. “The constitution does not suggest a basis for the courts to intervene in the campaign by deciding which arguments for and against the proposal are meritorious or misleading.”
Judge Stafford concluded that there is no evidence that the public has been misled by any of the state’s communications.
“There is no evidence…that any person has been misled. More damage would likely be done to the public interest were the courts to intervene, unfettered by meaningful evidence, in the final weeks of a contentious election on matters of great public interest and controversy. The judiciary must trust the people to decide what information is important to them.”
Liberty Counsel filed an amicus brief in a similar case against state elected officials, Adam Richardson v. Secretary, Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, et al., stating that elected officials have the right to speak regarding issues of public concern and they also may collaborate with private parties to advance the government’s message affecting the constituents they serve.
Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver stated, “This decision is victory for free speech. Government officials have the First Amendment right to speak in their official capacities on matters of public concern. Amendment 4 is extreme and if passed would have a devastating effect. It will allow abortion up to and during birth, override every health and safety standard, allow abortion without parental consent, and require taxpayers to fund abortion. Planned Parenthood and the ACLU are lying to the public about Amendment 4 and they want to silence anyone who presents the facts. They just lost that battle.”
