Florida judge grants temporary restraining order over abortion measure ads

Driving the news: Florida's Department of Health sent a cease-and-desist letter earlier this month to TV stations that aired an ad supporting the measure, sponsored by Floridians Protecting Freedom, the coalition that put abortion access on the ballot.

Zoom in: The order prevents the defendants from "taking any further actions to coerce, threaten, or intimate repercussions directly or indirectly to television stations, broadcasters, or other parties for airing" the coalition's speech, or "undertaking enforcement action" against them.

• The defendants are named as Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo and John Wilson, who was general counsel for the state's health department before he resigned last week.
• "Political advertisement is political speech — speech at the core of the First Amendment," the judge wrote. "The government cannot excuse its indirect censorship of political speech simply by declaring the disfavored speech is 'false.'"
• The judge added: "To keep it simple for the State of Florida: it's the First Amendment, stupid."

The other side: Julia Friedland, the governor's deputy press secretary, said the "core issue" is that "the ads are unequivocally false and put the lives and health of pregnant women at risk."

• She added: "Florida's heartbeat protection law always protects the life of a mother and includes exceptions for victims of rape, incest, and human trafficking."

What's next: The order expires Oct. 29, the day of the scheduled preliminary injunction hearing.

Go deeper: DeSantis goes all-in against Florida's abortion rights amendment