The Florida Supreme Court has agreed to expedite a case against Gov. Ron DeSantis and other state officials alleging they improperly used their official authority to oppose a proposed abortion amendment.
The court on Wednesday ordered Jason Weida, secretary of the Agency for Health Care Administration, to respond to a complaint from a Palm Beach County attorney alleging that a website the agency created last week about Amendment 4 violated state law.
The attorney, Adam Richardson, also included DeSantis and Attorney General Ashley Moody in his petition, alleging that they “engaged in a campaign to influence the election.” Richardson asked the justices “to enjoin them from abusing or misusing their offices and agencies to influence the election for Amendment 4.”
The judges could have dismissed Richardson’s complaint. Instead, they ordered the agency to respond to his allegations by 5 p.m. on Sept. 23.
The lawsuit is the most significant legal pushback yet against DeSantis’ efforts to marshal state resources to defeat Amendment 4, which would overturn the state’s six-week abortion ban if passed by 60% of voters in November. The amendment says, in part, that “no law shall prohibit, penalize, delay or restrict abortion before it is viable or when it is necessary to protect the health of the patient, as determined by the patient’s health care provider.”
DeSantis, who has made defeating the amendment one of his top priorities this fall, has deployed his election police to go door to door, asking some Floridians if they actually signed petitions to put the amendment on the ballot. Nearly 1 million voters signed the petition, and the state certified it for the January ballot.
The health agency’s website, launched last week, says Amendment 4 “threatens women’s safety.” It also lists groups that have donated to the Amendment 4 campaign.
Supporters of the amendment immediately criticized the site, speculating that it might violate a Florida law that prohibits state officials and officials from using their “official authority or influence to interfere with elections.”
DeSantis has defended the state website and an agency ad that linked to it, saying it was a “public service announcement.”
“We have a responsibility to tell the truth about the policies in the state of Florida, and that is 100 percent accurate,” DeSantis said Tuesday. “It does not weigh in on any particular amendment.”
In addition to the health agency’s webpage, Richardson also mentioned the use of the governor’s Faith and Community Initiative, created by DeSantis “as the governor’s voice for faith and community organizations,” according to the initiative’s website. The initiative advertised a call with Moody last week titled “Your Legal Rights and the Implications of Amendment 4,” USA Today Network-Florida reported.
“Every day that respondents can act unlawfully is a day that they are abusing state resources and tainting the election for Amendment 4,” Richardson said. “The case cannot wait.”
Richardson asked the justices “to prohibit them from abusing or misusing their offices and agencies to influence the election for Amendment 4.”
The court’s decision to expedite the case also comes as the ACLU of Florida, a coalition member of the Amendment 4 campaign, has indicated that it plans to sue the state in the coming days on behalf of the amendment’s sponsor, Floridians Protecting Freedom.
The lawsuit will challenge the health care agency’s “misuse of taxpayer dollars,” Michelle Morton, an attorney with the ACLU of Florida, said Wednesday.
According to Morton, Richardson’s case is separate from the Amendment 4 campaign.
