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(CN) — Mayday Health, a nonprofit that provides information about medication abortion, on Friday sued South Dakota’s governor and attorney general to prevent them from enforcing a new law that the organization says criminalizes its work.
The nonprofit says in a complaint filed in federal court in Sioux Falls that the law, Governor Larry Rhoden signed on March 20, chills its lawful speech and credibly threatens it with future prosecution for engaging in First Amendment-protected speech.
“When Governor Rhoden signed HB 1274, he issued a press release explicitly referring to the Mayday litigation, and accusing Mayday of engaging in illegal conduct,” the nonprofit claims.
The state law, among other things, prohibits advertising for abortion pills that are illegal in the state.
The lawsuit marks the latest clash between South Dakota and Mayday Health, an organization formed after the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson, which ended the constitutional right to abortion access and returned the issue to the states.
Last year, South Dakota sued Mayday Health over billboards placed at gas stations that read: “PREGNANT? DON’T WANT BE?”
That complaint followed a cease and desist letter sent in December by Republican South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley, who warned the nonprofit that the state would sue if the nonprofit did not stop what he described as deceptive advertising of the sale of abortion pills.
Abortion is banned in South Dakota except under specific, extenuating circumstances. State law also prohibits administering or procuring any medicine, drug or substance intended to induce an abortion, according to the attorney general.
Mayday responded with its own free speech lawsuit in federal court in New York. The parties settled their competing lawsuits in March, with Mayday agreeing to stop placing the billboards at gas stations.
In its new complaint, Mayday argues that House Bill 1274, as applied to the organization and to a South Dakota attorney who wears one of its sweatshirts containing information about abortion pills, violates the First Amendment. The nonprofit also argues it cannot be held liable for links to third party websites under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
“The U.S. Supreme Court has made it clear that States have the right to protect life," Jackley said in a statement. “As with Mayday’s previous unsuccessful lawsuit, I will defend innocent life. “
Mayday seeks a preliminary and permanent injunction barring the state from enforcing the law against it.
“Funny how Republican attorneys general obsess over the First Amendment until women’s reproductive freedom gets in the way," Leo Raisner, Mayday’s executive director, said in a statement. “We are suing states that try to ban free speech. And in the meantime, we’ll continue to spread First Amendment protected information about safe, effective and FDA-approved abortion pills.”
The nonprofit is represented by James D. Leach in Rapid City, South Dakota.
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