FLORIDA – Civil rights groups filed a lawsuit against Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration Thursday alleging it is using a website and ads to spread “misinformation” about the amendment on abortion rights.
The ACLU of Florida and the Southern Legal Council filed a joint lawsuit against the agency to stop what they called an “unconstitutional misinformation campaign” involving Amendment 4, which will appear in November’s ballot.
The lawsuit, filed in Leon County circuit court by attorneys for the Floridians Protecting Freedom committee, seeks a temporary injunction to prevent the agency from continuing to disseminate the information online and through television and radio ads.
Amendment 4 says, “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.”
The Agency for Health Care Administration’s website says, “Florida is Protecting Life. Don’t let the fearmongers lie to you.” The website also says, “Current Florida Law Protects Women, Amendment 4 Threatens Women’s Safety.”
The complaint from the ACLU and Southern Legal Council also alleged that “AHCA’s website, television, and radio advertisements contain inflammatory, false, and misleading statements that misrepresent Amendment 4, attempt to deny the experiences of those harmed by the extreme ban, and seek to influence the outcome of the election.”
The lawsuit came as the state continues to look into claims of identity theft involving the petitions that got the amendment on the November ballot.
Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd said people have reported that their identity was stolen and their signature was placed on a petition.
This comes after Governor Ron DeSantis defended sending investigators to question people who signed petitions for Amendment 4.
The campaign director for “Yes on 4” called the investigation a “distraction.”
The petitions were already verified by elections officials and the deadline has already passed to challenge signatures on those petitions.
Amendment 4 is still set to be on the November ballot. It will need 60% of the vote to pass.