Federal Judge Blocks South Dakota’s Abortion-Pill Advertising Criminalization
A federal judge temporarily blocked South Dakota’s new law banning the advertising of abortion pills on July 11, 2026, allowing a First Amendment lawsuit against it to proceed. Judge Camela Theeler ruled that the state had not demonstrated the law could survive legal challenge before the case is fully heard.
The law, signed by Gov. Larry Rhoden in March 2026, went beyond South Dakota’s existing near-total abortion ban. It also criminalized the dispensing, distribution, and advertising of abortion pills, with violations punishable by felony prosecution and fines. It was scheduled to take effect this month.
“Not shown that Mayday advertises with the specific intent that another person engage in specific criminal conduct.”
Judge Camela Theeler, ruling granting temporary injunction, July 2026
The plaintiffs are Nancy Turbak Berry, a former Democratic state legislator from Watertown, and New York-based nonprofit Mayday Health. They filed suit in May 2026 against Gov. Rhoden and Attorney General Marty Jackley. Their case centers on a concrete example: the law, as written, would bar Turbak Berry from wearing a sweatshirt reading that abortion pills are available in all 50 states and directing people to Mayday’s website.
Mayday Health placed similar ads at South Dakota gas stations in December 2025. Jackley argued at a Rapid City hearing that the state targets Mayday’s use of its website to connect South Dakotans with pill providers, not the wearing of clothing. He said the First Amendment does not protect what he characterized as facilitating an illegal drug transaction.
Mayday disputes that framing. The organization says it provides information only and does not direct anyone to obtain abortion pills. Theeler’s ruling sided with that distinction for now. Jackley issued a statement saying the state will continue to defend the law.
The plaintiffs and their attorney, Jim Leach of Rapid City, will now pursue a permanent injunction blocking the law entirely.
What You Can Do Now
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Contact the South Dakota Legislature’s House and Senate Judiciary Committees at (605) 773-3251 and tell them the advertising ban violates the First Amendment and chills protected speech. The permanent injunction hearing will set a precedent for similar laws in other states.
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Contact your own U.S. senators at (202) 224-3121 and ask them to support the Freedom to Advertise Reproductive Health Services Act or any federal legislation protecting First Amendment rights for abortion-related information providers.
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Support Mayday Health’s information campaign directly at maydayhealth.org. The organization is the named plaintiff in the lawsuit and continues operating its pill-access information service in all 50 states.
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Monitor the case docket through the federal court’s PACER system by searching for Turbak Berry v. Rhoden in the District of South Dakota. Court filings on the permanent injunction will be publicly available as they are submitted.
Sources
South Dakota Searchlight: Judge Temporarily Blocks South Dakota Abortion-Pill Advertising Ban
South Dakota Searchlight: Sides Clash in Court Over Legality of Abortion-Pill Advertising
Mayday Health: Abortion Pill Access Information and Outreach
KFF: State Abortion Bans and Near-Bans After Dobbs
Brennan Center: First Amendment Protections for Health Information
[Callout: Law would criminalize wearing a sweatshirt with abortion-pill information, named as specific First Amendment harm in Turbak Berry v.
Rhoden. South Dakota Searchlight]