Committee approves bill banning advertising and shipping abortion products

kotatv.com · Feb 21, 2026 · Collected from GDELT

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SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - In response to the Mayday abortion pill ad campaign, which garnered statewide attention, lawmakers in Pierre are backing an effort to prevent these actions from happening again.Mail-in abortion was a key topic of Friday’s House State Affairs Committee as supporters and opponents debated whether or not House Bill 1274 was necessary with respect to current state law.Opponents pointed out that providing someone with non-emergency abortion medication is already illegal. But Representative John Hughes’ bill now targets those promoting the products as well.“This bill does not change whether the actions being discussed are illegal or not. It is a class 6 felony under our law to prescribe for an illegal abortion, that will be the case whether or not this bill passes or fails,” Justin Bell, a lobbyist for the South Dakota Medical Association, said.Additional concerns pertained to how this would be enforced, whether or not people’s mail would be opened, and also unintended bans on drugs for other purposes.“The same drugs used primarily to end an early pregnancy are also the most effective drugs to medically manage miscarriages,” Lindsey Ritter-Rapp, a lobbyist with the South Dakota Section of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said.Attorney General Marty Jackley said he believes House Bill 1274’s language makes it clear when the use of drugs such as mifepristone can lawfully be used.“If somebody takes a medication that can be prescribed, they steal it, and then they use it for inappropriate reasons, they would be prosecuted for that. And so, I think the protections are in place with that language, ‘For purposes of an unlawful abortion,’” Jackley said.Later on, Friday, Jackley announced that his case against Mayday Health will move forward in circuit court. Representative Hughes (R), Sioux Falls, says the result of Amendment G at the 2024 election proves that the efforts from Mayday Health and others have no place in South Dakota.“That was the (will of our) voters in our general election. Since that time, as we are all aware, there are bad actors that are marketing abortion inducing medicine, pills to South Dakotans. You’re familiar, I’m certain, with the Mayday medicine case,” Hughes said.Under House Bill 1274, the dispensation, distribution, sale, or advertisement of anything for the purpose of an unlawful abortion is a class 6 felony, with potential civil penalties.South Dakota is one of the most restrictive states for abortion access in the country, with the procedure only being permitted to save the life of the mother.Copyright 2026 Dakota News Now. All rights reserved.