By Jim Saunders and Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida
TALLAHASSEE — With Democrats accusing the state Agency for Health Care Administration of improper politicking, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday described as “above board” information that the agency has released in advance of a November referendum on abortion rights.
“You know, we have resources to do public-service announcements across a wide variety of fronts. That goes to the Department of Transportation, for example, on safe driving,” DeSantis said during an appearance in Miami Lakes. “It’s being used by the AHCA agency to basically provide people with accurate information. And I think that that’s something that’s really important, because, quite frankly, a lot of people don’t usually get that in the normal (information) bloodstream. So, everything that’s put out is factual. It’s not electioneering.”
But Democrats and other supporters of a proposed constitutional amendment on abortion rights contend the agency posted biased information online, as DeSantis fights the ballot initiative. The Agency for Health Care Administration also has released a 30-second video public-service announcement.
Democratic leaders argue, in part, that the agency has violated a state law that bars government employees from using their offices or authority to try to influence elections.
“We can have philosophical policy, lived-experience differences of opinion, but state agencies, all 26 of them, are really supposed to be completely agnostic and neutral,” incoming Senate Minority Leader Jason Pizzo, D-Sunny Isles Beach, said Monday. “And I would say that the plain reading of (the state law) speaks to, you know, employees not overreaching on their authority to go ahead and express either personal opinion or basically what amounts to coercion and influence of campaigning against a particular entity or ballot measure referendum. So, I think that’s clear overstepping.”
The proposed amendment, which will appear on the ballot as Amendment 4, has touched off perhaps the state’s fiercest political battle this year. In part, the proposal 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 political committee Floridians Protecting Freedom began the drive to pass the constitutional amendment after DeSantis and the Republican-controlled Legislature last year passed a law to prevent abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. That law took effect May 1.
The Agency for Health Care Administration webpage that spurred the controversy includes statements such as, “Current Florida Law Protects Women, Amendment 4 Threatens Women’s Safety.”
Also, for example, it takes issue with wording of the amendment, such as the use of the term “healthcare provider,” which it contends “could include a wide range of professionals connected to healthcare which might differ from the current requirement that these important decisions be made only by a physician.”
Such statements echo arguments that opponents of the amendment have made for weeks — and that are refuted by supporters of the amendment.
The agency posted the 30-second video public-service announcement Monday on the social-media platform X. Fine print at the end of the video says, “This message is sponsored by the Agency for Health Care Administration, the Florida Association of Broadcasters and this television station.”
Florida Association of Broadcasters officials Monday afternoon did not immediately respond to an email that included questions about where the public-service announcement might appear on television stations.
“Florida cares about women and families,” an announcer says in the video. “Last year, Florida provided nearly $500 million to support pregnant women and their families. No woman can go to jail for having an abortion. And abortions are available before a child’s heartbeat is detected and in cases or rape or incest and at all points of pregnancy to save the life and health of the mother.”
The video refers viewers to the webpage, floridahealthfinder.com/FloridaCares.
State law about issues such as abortions to save the life and health of women is more nuanced than the video. For instance, one part of law says that in such situations, two physicians must certify in writing that an abortion “is necessary to save the pregnant woman’s life or avert a serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman other than a psychological condition.”
Also, state law allows abortions up to 15 weeks of pregnancy in cases of rape, incest or human trafficking but includes certain requirements.
“At the time the woman schedules or arrives for her appointment to obtain the abortion, she must provide a copy of a restraining order, police report, medical record, or other court order or documentation providing evidence that she is obtaining the termination of pregnancy because she is a victim of rape, incest, or human trafficking,” the law says. “If the woman is 18 years of age or older, the physician must report any known or suspected human trafficking to a local law enforcement agency. If the woman is a minor, the physician must report the incident of rape, incest, or human trafficking to the central abuse hotline.”