South Dakota House advances bill to stop mail-order abortion pill

The South Dakota House passed a bill aiming to halt the advertising and sale of the mail-order abortion pill.

Key Takeaways:

• The South Dakota House passed a bill to outlaw the advertisement and sale of the abortion pill.

• Mayday Health has been advertising for the abortion pill at gas stations in the state despite a state law protecting most preborn children from abortion.

• It is hoped that the new bill might stop Mayday Health's attempts to connect women in South Dakota with the abortion pill, which is taken unsupervised and comes with a reported greater risk to women than a surgical abortion.

The Details:

The South Dakota House passed House Bill 1274 on Tuesday by a vote of 61 to five. It seeks to prevent the advertisement and sale of abortion drugs through the mail. House Bill 1274 states:

No person may knowingly dispense, distribute, sell, or advertise any of the following for purposes of an unlawful abortion pursuant to § 22-17-5.1:

(1) An article or thing designed, adapted, or intended for producing an abortion; or

(2) An article, instrument, substance, drug, medicine, or thing that is advertised or described in a manner calculated to lead another to use or apply it for producing an abortion.

Originally, it targeted mifepristone specifically, the first drug of the two-drug abortion pill regimen. However, it was amended to include any abortion drugs or instruments. It would allow the U.S. Postal Inspection Service to intercept abortion drugs that are sent through the mail "knowingly for an unlawful purpose," according to the bill's sponsor Rep. John Hughes.

Most preborn children are protected from abortion in South Dakota with the only exception being to save the life of the mother (although induced abortion, the direct and intentional killing of a preborn baby, is not medically necessary).

The Backstory:

Mayday Health, a New York company, has been running abortion pill ads at gas stations in the state. South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley asked a court to place either a preliminary or permanent injunction against Mayday Health to compel the pro-abortion organization to remove its gas station ads promoting abortion pills in the state. In response, Mayday filed a countersuit.

Mayday Health doesn't sell the abortion pill but points women to where they can purchase it and encourages them to order it proactively. Women can contact abortion pill sales websites online and order the abortion pills without any medical oversight, putting them at risk of serious complications.

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"The idea that this should be done without medical supervision just blows my mind, frankly, because of all the contraindications and the other medical conditions," Hughes said.

At least one study has found that the abortion pill is four times more risky for women than a first-trimester surgical abortion.

The Bottom Line:

Every Republican in the House voted in favor of the bill, while all five Democrats voted against it. It will now head to the the Senate for consideration.