South Dakota Judge Blocks Ban on Advertising Abortion Pills

A federal judge has temporarily blocked South Dakota’s new law banning the advertising of abortion pills while a lawsuit challenging the measure continues.

The law, signed by Gov. Larry Rhoden in March, was set to take effect in July. It prohibits advertising dangerous abortion pills that kills babies and hurt women and carries penalties of up to two years in prison.

South Dakota already bans abortion except when necessary to save the life of the mother, and performing or prescribing an abortion is classified as a Class 6 felony.

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However, New York-based Mayday Health, a chemical abortion advocacy group, and former Democratic state lawmaker Nancy Berry filed the lawsuit against Gov. Rhoden and Attorney General Marty Jackley. The plaintiffs claim the advertising ban violates free speech rights.

Gov. Rhoden responded to the lawsuit by stating, “If Mayday Health and the abortion lobby want to sue us for defending unborn life, bring it on.”

Attorney General Marty Jackley said, “The U.S. Supreme Court has made it clear that States have the right to protect life. As with Mayday’s previous unsuccessful lawsuit, I will defend innocent life.”

The lawsuit follows earlier state efforts to stop Mayday Health from promoting abortion pills. In December, the group placed advertisements at gas stations across South Dakota reading “PREGNANT? DON’T WANT BE?” The ads directed people to information about dangerous abortion pills.

Attorney General Jackley issued a cease-and-desist letter and took legal action after receiving more than 650 consumer complaints. He described the ads as deceptive and unlawful for failing to acknowledge the state’s prohibitions on abortion and for downplaying risks associated with the pills, such as studies showing they hurt 11% of women who take them.

Jackley stated that Mayday Health “targeted women and young girls encouraging them to take abortion pills while misleading them about the physical risks.” He added, “We believe there’s deceptive practices and illegal practices occurring… One is the sale of abortion pills, which are illegal in South Dakota. The other is public safety, how they are going beyond the FDA approved use of certain pills.”

In March, Mayday Health and the state reached a settlement requiring the group to remove the gas station advertisements and cease deceptive advertising in South Dakota.

An Ethics and Public Policy Center study published in April 2025 found that over 1 in 10 patients who took mifepristone experienced a “serious adverse event” within 45 days of taking the abortion pill.