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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nChief U.S. District Judge Mark E. Walker of the Northern District of Florida granted a temporary restraining order against Florida\u2019s surgeon general<\/a> after the state health department threatened to bring criminal charges against broadcasters airing the ad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The controversy stems from a campaign ad by the group Floridians Protecting Freedom, which is behind the \u201cYes on 4 Campaign,\u201d promoting a ballot measure that seeks to overturn Florida\u2019s six-week abortion ban by enshrining abortion rights in the state constitution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the 30-second ad<\/a>, a brain cancer survivor named Caroline says the state law would have prevented her from receiving a life-saving abortion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe doctors knew that if I did not end my pregnancy, I would lose my baby, I would lose my life, and my daughter would lose her mom,\u201d she says on camera. \u201cFlorida has now banned abortions, even in cases like mine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The state health department \u2013 part of Gov. Ron DeSantis\u2019s administration, which has aggressively campaigned against the pro-abortion amendment \u2013 said the ad\u2019s claims are \u201cfalse\u201d and \u201cdangerous\u201d to the public health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n John Wilson, the health department\u2019s general counsel, sent cease-and-desist letters to multiple television stations airing the ad. Floridians Protecting Freedom then filed a lawsuit against Wilson and the state\u2019s surgeon general, Joseph Ladapo, saying the threats amounted to \u201cunconstitutional coercion and viewpoint discrimination\u201d and pressed the court to bar the state from following up on threats to sue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Thursday, the judge agreed the health department\u2019s threats were \u201cviewpoint discrimination\u201d and wrote that the group presented \u201ca substantial likelihood of proving an ongoing violation of its First Amendment rights through the threatened direct penalization of its political speech.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The judge\u2019s order<\/a>, which is valid through October 29, effectively bars Ladapo from intimidating local stations for airing the Amendment 4 ad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Walker\u2019s granting of the restraining order comes less than a week after Wilson resigned from his post. In a letter obtained<\/a> by the Tampa Bay Times and Miami Herald, Wilson wrote that \u201ca man is nothing without his conscience,\u201d adding that \u201cit has become clear in recent days that I cannot join you on the road that lies before the agency.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n