ACLU of South Dakota Condemns Politically Motivated Investigation of Abortion Ads

Gov. Larry Rhoden’s request for an investigation into an advertising campaign educating people about the safety and effectiveness of abortion pills is a politically motivated attack on free speech.

Despite the state’s near-total ban on abortion, the governor can’t prevent information about abortion from being shared in South Dakota. The United States Supreme Court considers speech about abortion protected speech under the First Amendment and has reaffirmed that position multiple times since Bigelow v. Virginia in 1975.

“This investigation into the ads placed by Mayday Health at gas stations throughout the state will chill rightfully protected speech about an issue that needs to be discussed now more than ever,” said Samantha Chapman, ACLU of South Dakota advocacy manager. “This targeted attack against information about abortion violates our First Amendment right to share and receive information and puts a target on any other organization or individual who dares to share information that the governor disfavors.”

For decades, medication abortion has been a safe, effective, FDA-approved method for ending an early pregnancy. It is used for more than 60% of abortions in the United States, according to data from the Guttmacher Institute. The drugs mifepristone and misoprostol, commonly used in medication abortions, are also listed on the World Health Organizations’ list of essential medicines.

Attempts like this to restrict information about abortion will only further isolate pregnant South Dakotans seeking to educate themselves about medical care.

“South Dakota’s anti-abortion politicians are more concerned about restricting information than the state’s sky-high maternal and infant mortality rates,” Chapman said. “This investigation into Mayday Health’s ads is little more than political theater at the taxpayer’s expense.”

Mayday Health is non-profit organization that provides education about medication abortion and how to access it in the United States. It does not sell or provide medication abortion pills.

---

About the ACLU of South Dakota

The American Civil Liberties Union of South Dakota is a non-partisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and enhancement of civil liberties and civil rights. The ACLU of South Dakota is part of a three-state chapter that also includes North Dakota and Wyoming. The team in South Dakota is supported by staff in those states.

The ACLU believes freedoms of press, speech, assembly, and religion, and the rights to due process, equal protection and privacy, are fundamental to a free people. In addition, the ACLU seeks to advance constitutional protections for groups traditionally denied their rights, including people of color, women, and the LGBTQ communities. The ACLU of South Dakota carries out its work through selective litigation, lobbying at the state and local level, and through public education and awareness of what the Bill of Rights means for the people of South Dakota.