In post-Roe America, many states have taken swift action to protect their citizens, born and unborn, from the horrors of abortion. However, an advertising company is preying on vulnerable citizens in those states with malicious ads aimed at convincing them to seek the procedure illegally anyway.
Kentucky has long stood as a pro-life state and has affirmed this conviction at nearly every turn. While under the chokehold of Roe v. Wade, Kentucky passed several protections for the unborn, despite being blocked in court. When Mississippi’s 12-week protection made its way to the Supreme Court, Kentucky passed a very similar law to protect mothers and their babies. And when Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health struck down Roe, the commonwealth was able to finally protect Kentuckians from abortion violence beginning at conception.
Because the legislature was clearly unwilling to turn its back on the unborn and vulnerable children, pro-abortion radicals had to change their strategy. Believe it or not, they are now focused on enticing Kentuckians with persuasive ads from out of state, seeking to secretly ship them harmful abortion pills.
These aren’t just targeted social media ads but sweeping public campaigns that disturb any reasonable person’s day-to-day life.
Imagine, you are getting gas, and a large sign on the pump reads, “PREGNANT? DON’T WANT TO BE?” followed by a website featuring instructions to take the life of an unborn child, despite the protections in place under state law. In one case, the featured website directed women to five websites that deliver abortion inducing pills (four of which ship to all 50 states) and connected them to organizations that help minors fly to other states to abort their unborn child, even into the final stages of development.
While the act of flying minors itself flags trafficking concerns, even dropping abortion drugs at a woman’s doorstep is dangerous on all fronts. A woman who may have an ectopic pregnancy or other medical concerns is robbed of even the lowest bar of safety precautions. She is left alone, and if there were to be a medical emergency, women are often encouraged to lie about the abortion to doctors.
The responsible organization, Mayday Health, has announced they are placing these ads in over 100 gas stations.
In 2022, Kentucky lawmakers passed House Bill 3 that explicitly prohibits the mailing or delivery of chemical abortion drugs because they are so harmful to both the mother and the child. They raised their medical standards because women deserve better.
However, Mayday Health is creating ways to skirt these standards. Thankfully, Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman has launched a full investigation. He issued several subpoenas to the gas stations saying, “Out-of-state activist groups who are targeting the vulnerable here should be on notice: Keep your illegal pills out of our Commonwealth or face the full weight of the attorney general’s office.”
“These deadly and unlawful pills cannot be allowed to continue flooding into Kentucky through the mail, and we will thoroughly pursue every lead to hold bad actors accountable,” he continued. Mayday responded with accusations of free speech violations, citing a recent court battle over similar advertisements in South Dakota.
This, of course, is not a battle over speech at all. The group is not merely providing information; it is being complicit in a potentially illegal conspiracy to circumvent state law and put women at grave risk. Mayday can disagree with state policy and fight to change it through the democratic process, but it should not be allowed to put women’s lives in danger by helping them break state law.
The truth is, these abortion pills are dangerous. Concerned Women for America (CWA) is proud to stand with Attorney General Coleman and the commonwealth of Kentucky for their commitment to life and to putting the health and well-being of women over profit.
