DeSantis Seeks To Silence Brain Cancer Patient Speaking Out About Her Abortion

Source: rollingstone

32 Comments

  1. >But DeSantis, who has signed two separate abortion bans into law — restricting the procedure first at 15 weeks, then 6 weeks gestation — is desperately trying to tank Amendment 4. First, he worked with the Heritage Foundation to add language to the ballot measure implying that relegalizing abortion would have a negative fiscal impact on the state. Amid that baseless warning, state agencies began spending public money on TV and radio ads peddling misinformation about the measure, as well as a website that claims Amendment 4 “threatens women’s safety.”

    >Now, DeSantis is trying to keep a cancer patient named Caroline from sharing the story of her abortion, by threatening to criminally prosecute TV stations that carry the Amendment 4 ad featuring her story.

    Why is it that republicans absolutely can not understand free speech protects citizens from action by the government?

  2. ***From Rolling Stone’s Tessa Stuart:***

    *As Ron DeSantis tries to protect his state’s abortion ban, his agency is threatening to prosecute TV stations for sharing a dying woman’s story.*

    Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is putting the full weight of the Florida government behind an effort to defeat a ballot measure that would protect abortion access in the state — including by enlisting government lawyers in a campaign to silence a young mother with terminal brain cancer who is warning of the danger Florida’s strict ban poses to women like her.

    This November, Florida residents will have the opportunity to vote on Amendment 4; if passed, the measure will enshrine the right to abortion “before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health” in Florida’s constitution. The pitch is broadly popular with Floridians: A September poll showed the measure attracting support from 76 percent of voters.

    But DeSantis, who has signed two separate abortion bans into law — restricting the procedure first at 15 weeks, then 6 weeks gestation — is desperately trying to tank Amendment 4. First, he worked with the Heritage Foundation to add language to the ballot measure implying that relegalizing abortion would have a negative fiscal impact on the state. Amid that baseless warning, state agencies began spending public money on TV and radio ads peddling misinformation about the measure, as well as a website that claims Amendment 4 “threatens women’s safety.”

    Now, DeSantis is trying to keep a cancer patient named Caroline from sharing the story of her abortion, by threatening to criminally prosecute TV stations that carry the Amendment 4 ad featuring her story.

    Read more: [https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/desantis-brain-cancer-patient-abortion-1235128999/](https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/desantis-brain-cancer-patient-abortion-1235128999/)

  3. This guy completely falls apart when he gets out of his carefully curated media bubble.

    Among Republicans who can’t stand Trump, this guy is considered a generational politician, probably because he’s every bit as anti-democratic as Trump but is slightly more palatable to the average conservative.

  4. DeSantis is going to get his comeuppance at some point. He has fucked with the lives of enough Floridians that someone is bound to confront him after he leaves the governorship.

  5. This is the best tl;dr I could make, [original](https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/desantis-brain-cancer-patient-abortion-1235128999/) reduced by 90%. (I’m a bot)
    *****
    > Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is putting the full weight of the Florida government behind an effort to defeat a ballot measure that would protect abortion access in the state – including by enlisting government lawyers in a campaign to silence a young mother with terminal brain cancer who is warning of the danger Florida's strict ban poses to women like her.

    > Caroline is speaking out about her abortion in support of Amendment 4, the ballot measure that would enshrine the right to access an abortion in Florida's constitution if it is approved by at least 60 percent of Florida voters this November.

    > Wilson claims Florida's ban would not prevent women in Caroline's situation from obtaining an abortion – it would merely make the process extremely burdensome for a cancer patient like her.

    *****
    [**Extended Summary**](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/1fz7d0l/desantis_seeks_to_silence_brain_cancer_patient/) | [FAQ](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/31b9fm/faq_autotldr_bot/ “Version 2.02, ~694781 tl;drs so far.”) | [Feedback](http://np.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%23autotldr “PM’s and comments are monitored, constructive feedback is welcome.”) | *Top* *keywords*: **abortion**^#1 **Florida**^#2 **Caroline**^#3 **week**^#4 **Amendment**^#5

  6. wtf_is_a_parsnip on

    Remember when rhonda had secret service physically escort a 13 year old from his rally for asking a tough question???

    …Pepperidge Farm remembers

  7. On what legal basis does the asshole seek to penalize the news stations carrying this woman’s story?

    Also — if the story is picked up nationwide, then DeSantis can’t do a goddamned thing about it — he’s only got *Florida* under his fat fucking thumb, not the rest of the country. So share this story everywhere!

  8. Pitiful-Bus-4791 on

    DeSantis is a misogynist autocrat, why does he get away with terrorizing women?

  9. Lost_Minds_Think on

    **LET THE PEOPLE VOTE ! ! !**

    Hey DeSantis your laws will mean nothing. Your dictatorship will mean nothing. When the people choose and not your narrow minded ideology.

  10. This is heart-breaking. The real cost of these insane laws. A young woman dealing with cancer should not have to worry about having Ron DeSantis in her conversations with her doctor. She has plenty on her hands. This is a powerful story. I can see why DeSantis is trying to shut it down.

  11. Is this what republicans are talking about when they say democrats censoring our freedom of speech is the real danger to our democracy?

  12. Please let the Streisand effect take hold here. Put her on national TV. Do an expose’ for the Washington Post. Have Reuters and AP do a story so it gets spread far and wide.

  13. Ron is such a pathetic little shit. You can tell something went horribly wrong in his life to make him so full of hatred.

  14. Do_or_Do_Not480 on

    This guy is literally a piece of shit. I’d say “flush him, Flor-i-duh!” But luckily, he’s term limited. Just a God-awful waste of human tissue….

  15. ImportantWords on

    What is actually funnier about this is that it’s the inverse of the Trump/FEMA thing. If you read the letter from the Florida Health Department, their justification for pulling the commercial is that it’s making inaccurate claims that could discourage people from seeking medical help. The letter goes on to outline exactly why the ad is wrong, the danger it presents and the statue that prevents you from using advertising to present false information.

    Which is hilarious.

  16. The worse part of this argument – ‘Lawyers for Amendment 4 go on to dispute Wilson’s characterization of the ad. “Caroline’s diagnosis was terminal. Practically, that means that an abortion would not have saved her life, only extended it,” they write, arguing that Florida’s ban does not include exceptions for such cases, attaching a signed declaration for a doctor attesting to that fact.’

    So, extending a woman’s life doesn’t count.

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