Florida Court Denies Preliminary Injunction in Abortion Ad Case
A federal court denied the preliminary injunction sought by an abortion rights group against Florida to protect TV stations airing abortion rights ads from prosecution by the state’s Department of Health (see 2411050026). Though U.S. District Court for Northern Florida…
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Chief Judge Mark Walker previously granted a restraining order that protected the stations from DOH, he ruled Wednesday that Floridians Protecting Florida didn’t show that it faced likely prosecution with the end of the ad campaign on Election Day. The record supported a limited temporary restraining order to prevent the DOH “from unconstitutionally coercing broadcasters” in the run-up to voting, but FPF “has identified no evidence in this record demonstrating that television broadcasters will continue to be unconstitutionally coerced,” Walker wrote. “Unsurprisingly, the Department of Health has recognized that it is aware of no actual harm resulting from Plaintiff’s political advertisement,” and “the mere possibility of some future enforcement action premised upon an unknown future harm” isn’t enough justification for a preliminary injunction, Walker said. Along with denying the injunction, the order also dissolves the restraining order. FPF and the Florida DOH didn’t comment.