ORLANDO, Fla. — A federal judge rebuked Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration for threatening television stations with criminal charges if they didn’t stop showing ads favoring an abortion rights measure, and supporters of that ballot amendment cheered his ruling Friday.

Judge Mark Walker blasted state officials in an order issued late Thursday over a letter demanding broadcasters pull the ad, writing that its content is political speech protected by the U.S. Constitution.

“To keep it simple for the State of Florida: it’s the First Amendment, stupid,” Walker wrote in a temporary restraining order released Thursday night.

Walker’s order bars state officials from any further action threatening broadcasters. A hearing for a permanent injunction is set for later this month.

Floridians Protecting Freedom, the group pushing for passage of Amendment 4, which would restore abortion rights in the state, filed the lawsuit on Wednesday after an Oct. 3 cease-and-desist letter from the Florida Department of Health went out to local television stations.

“It’s a resounding defense of our fundamental rights,” said Keisha Mulfort, a spokeswoman for the ACLU of Florida, one of the groups that has endorsed Amendment 4. “The court affirmed that the First Amendment protects the right to speak out against unjust laws, and that the state of Florida cannot wield its power to silence the voices of women who are bravely sharing their stories about reproductive health care.”

The letter written by the health department’s then-general counsel John Wilson demanded broadcasters remove the ads within 24 hours or the department would seek criminal charges for spreading lies about Florida’s six-week abortion ban.

At least one station — WINK-TV in Fort Myers — stopped airing the ad after receiving the letter, according to the lawsuit.

In the 30-second ad titled “Caroline,” a Tampa Bay woman recounts the traumatic experience of discovering she had terminal brain cancer when she was 20 weeks pregnant and needing an abortion to receive life-extending treatment. “The doctors knew if I did not end my pregnancy, I would lose my baby, I would lose my life, and my daughter would lose her mom. Florida has now banned abortion even in cases like mine,” she says.

If approved by at least 60% of voters, Amendment 4 would protect abortion rights until viability, usually about 24 weeks into a pregnancy, or when necessary to protect the patient’s health as determined by her health care provider.

If Amendment 4 passes, it would overturn Florida’s six-week ban on abortion, signed into law by DeSantis last year.

Florida health officials called the ad false and wrote in the letter that it could threaten the health of women by leading some to believe they were ineligible for medical treatment. Florida’s abortion ban includes exceptions to save a 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.”

Wilson, who authored the memo, has left his job as the Department of Health’s top lawyer, writing in a resignation letter obtained by the Miami Herald that “a man is nothing without his conscience” and “it has become clear in recent days that I cannot join you on the road that lies before the agency.”

When asked about the lawsuit and Wilson’s resignation, health department officials didn’t directly answer questions but sent a statement.

“The fact is these ads are unequivocally false and detrimental to public health in Florida,” agency spokesman Jae Williams said. “The media continues to ignore the truth that Florida’s heartbeat protection law always protects the life of a mother and includes exceptions for victims of rape, incest, and human trafficking.

The health department has brought in three law firms — Lombard Miles of Tallahassee, First and Fourteenth of Colorado and Cooper & Kirk of Washington, D.C. — to assist with legal issues related to the ads, authorizing up to a $1.6 million budget, state purchasing records show.

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