Kentucky Sues Nonprofit for Advertising About the Availability of Abortion Pills

Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman sued reproductive health education nonprofit Mayday Health, alleging that the organization advertised mail order abortion pills in violation of Kentucky law. 

The Kentucky AG alleged that Mayday placed advertising in Kentucky gas stations that read, “Pregnant?  Don't Want to Be?  Learn more at Mayday.Health.”  Here's an example: 

The AG also alleged that Mayday advertised by flying an airplane over the City of Louisville and the Kentucky State Fair which read, “ABORTION PILLS BY MAIL.  Mayday.Health.” 

In the complaint, the AG argued that Mayday's advertisements violated Kentucky prohibitions on engaging in unfair, false, misleading, or deceptive practices because state law prohibits the distribution of abortion pills by mail.  According to the AG, although Mayday's site doesn't actually sell abortion pills by mail, it directs people to third-party providers who ship abortion pills throughout the United States, including Kentucky.  The AG asserted that the Mayday's advertising violates the law because not only is Mayday actively assisting the actual sellers of the drugs to find customers, but the ads “give the impression that abortion-inducing drugs are available to be delivered to Kentuckian's by mail when, in fact, it is illegal under Kentucky law to distribute abortion-inducing drugs by mail.” 

In announcing the action, the AG said, “These out of state activists are not only breaking Kentucky law, they seem to delight in rubbing our faces in it.” 

Kentucky is not the only state that is trying to put a stop to advertising that provides information about the availability of abortion pills.  

In 2025, South Dakota's Attorney General sent a letter to Mayday Health, ordering the company to stop advertising the sale of abortion pills in the state.  In early 2026, after the South Dakota AG sued, Mayday settled with the AG, agreeing not to place any advertising in the future in South Dakota.  Then, in May, Mayday sued the state, asking the state to bar the enforcement of state law that prohibits abortion-related advertising on the grounds that the law is unconstitutional and it violates the Communications Decency Act – and, in July, the court granted Mayday a preliminary injunction.

While these cases are in their early stages, they raise important questions about the types of speech that states can regulate – and also highlight the risks that advertisers (and others) take when advertising products that may be illegal under a particular state's law. 

Mayday Health v. Rhoden, 2026 WL 2070966 (D.S.D. 2026).