Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman has filed a civil lawsuit against Mayday Health after an aerial banner reading “Abortion Pills By Mail” flew over Louisville and the Kentucky State Fair in late August, according to the complaint and reporting by The Christian Post.
The lawsuit
The complaint targets Mayday Health, a New York-based activist group that, per The Christian Post, does not prescribe abortion drugs but directs women to organizations that ship the drugs by mail to all 50 states. The lawsuit alleges the group violated Kentucky’s 2022 law (House Bill 3) banning the dispensing, prescribing, or distribution of abortion-inducing medication by mail, courier, or delivery service. It also accuses Mayday Health of violating Kentucky’s Consumer Protection Act by advertising in a way the state says is “unfair, false, misleading, or deceptive” because it gives the impression abortion-inducing drugs can be legally mailed to Kentuckians.
“These out of state activists are not only breaking Kentucky law, they seem to delight in rubbing our faces in it,” Coleman said in a statement, calling the State Fair “a beloved Kentucky tradition for families and children to celebrate our Commonwealth.” He added, “We refuse to allow Mayday to taint our values and put our people at risk.”
Mayday Health’s response
In a statement to The Christian Post, Mayday Health Executive Director Leo (Olivia) Raisner said, “We look forward to defending our First Amendment protected work in court — and winning, like we have against similar efforts to suppress our speech. Abortion pills are safe, effective and FDA-approved, and everyone deserves access to that information.”
Background on the group
The Christian Post reports that Raisner served as a traveling content director at the White House during President Joe Biden’s administration from January 2021 to January 2022 and earlier as a traveling digital director for the Biden–Harris transition. Raisner founded Mayday Health in May 2022. The organization began promoting abortion drugs in Kentucky last year, and, according to Kentucky Today cited by The Christian Post, it ran ads at more than 80 gas stations stating: “Pregnant? Don’t Want to Be? Learn more at Mayday.Health.”
In January, the Kentucky attorney general’s office opened a civil investigation tied to Mayday Health advertisements at gas stations in Western Kentucky, including Christian, Simpson, and Logan counties, The Christian Post reported.
Wider policy context
The Christian Post notes that pro-life leaders and state attorneys general have urged the Trump administration to reverse an FDA policy dating to the Biden era that permitted abortion drugs by mail and ended an in-person dispensing requirement. The FDA has said it is conducting a safety review of mifepristone, the first drug in the abortion pill regimen.
The Christian Post also cites research and advocacy sources alleging safety concerns: an analysis involving the Charlotte Lozier Institute, researchers at the University of North Carolina, the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the Elliott Institute warning that emergency room visits tied to abortion-pill complications are being miscoded; and a 2025 Restoration of America Foundation report based on insurance claims (2017–2023) that estimated more than one in ten women using chemical abortion drugs experienced an adverse event and that mail-order drugs were 22 times more dangerous than what the FDA discloses to patients. Those claims are attributed to the cited organizations and reports.
