Fact Checking

(Media News) DeSantis Administration Threatens Tampa TV Station Over Abortion Rights Ad

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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s administration is threatening legal action against Tampa NBC affiliate WFLA for airing an abortion rights ad. The ad features a woman, Caroline, who says she needed an abortion and cancer treatment after being diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2022. Florida’s six-week abortion ban passed under DeSantis, would make such a procedure illegal.

The Florida Department of Health sent a letter to WFLA, calling the ad “false” and “dangerous” and warning that legal action would follow if it isn’t removed within 24 hours. The state cited a law allowing it to remove material deemed a health “nuisance.” The ad supports Amendment 4, a November ballot measure seeking to overturn Florida’s near-total abortion ban.

Critics, including local Democrats, have called the move “government bullying.” WFLA has not yet responded publicly.