How Florida Abortion Laws Have Roiled a Student Newspaper

Florida abortion laws that made its largest student newspaper break away from the University of Florida more than 50 years ago have rattled the outlet again decades later.

The Independent Florida Alligator, a student newspaper based in Gainesville that covers the University of Florida and its surrounding community, rejected a medical nonprofit’s bid to run an advertisement last week promoting abortion pill access for Florida students, in fear of violating a Florida statute that bans such ads.

Shaun O’Connor, the newspaper’s general manager, said in a statement posted to the paper’s public alumni Facebook group that he made the decision to not run the ad under the advice of several lawyers. He believed, however, that the statute expressly prohibited the ad’s publication. “My personal views, my beliefs on the constitutionality of the law on the books were not determining factors,” he wrote.

Read more at The Daily Beast.