Directors of pregnancy resource centers in Kentucky recently expressed criticism and deep concern in response to a week-long advertising campaign for abortion pills that appeared at gas stations in the Bluegrass State.
In September, Mayday Health ran ads at approximately 100 rural Kentucky stations with messages on the pumps like “Pregnant? Don’t want to be? Learn more at Mayday Health.” The ads have also appeared at gas stations in West Virginia.
Although abortion has been illegal in Kentucky since 2022 in the wake of Dobbs, the attention surrounding the advertising campaign shed light on the growing problem of abortion pill access in the Bluegrass State.
An article at Kentucky Today by Tessa Redmond quoted directors from four local pregnancy centers in Care Net’s network of 1,200 PRCs.
“It’s alarming,” said Carla Estes, executive director of Crossroads Life Center in Glasgow. “It’s very frustrating that [the ads] can be run here in the state of Kentucky [where abortion is banned].”
Melanie Manley, executive director at Life Choice Pregnancy Center in Russellville, told the publication that ads at busy gas stations, in addition to online access, will only exacerbate an often-silent crisis.
“People think since Roe v. Wade fell and abortion is illegal in Kentucky that abortions aren’t happening, when actually for pregnancy centers, the fight is harder than it was before Roe v. Wade…because when Planned Parenthood had an office in Louisville that was actively doing abortions, people understood they had to give money to combat that,” she said. “But when you see that the abortion pill is ‘illegal’ in Kentucky and there are no abortions being performed, the public thinks the battle has been won when it’s only gotten worse. You can mail-order a six-pack in 10 minutes.”
According to Kentucky Today, Mayday Health does not provide abortion pills, but links to several prescribing organizations; All five organizations will mail mifepristone and misoprostol without confirming the woman early enough in the pregnancy to safely take the drugs. The publication noted that a spokesman for Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman said he was reviewing the advertisements.
“I think it’s very dangerous to just hand out pills like that without being under a doctor’s care. That is just negligent,” Rebecca Clere, director of client services at Two Hearts Pregnancy Center in Ashland, in the article.
The authors of a 2025 study from the Ethics and Policy Center would certainly agree with Clere’s assessment. According to research conducted by Jamie Bryan Hall and Ryan T. Anderson, the rate of serious health complications following mifepristone abortions is at least 22 times higher than the number found on current drug labels.
This eye-opening finding was reached in a paper entitled The Abortion Pill Harms Women: Insurance Data Reveals One in Ten Patients Experiences a Serious Adverse Event.
“Women deserve better than the abortion pill,” the authors said.
Indeed, women instead deserve the care, compassion, and hope offered by Care Net’s nationwide network of more than 1,200 pregnancy centers. Even in states like Kentucky, where abortion is banned, the mission is as urgent as ever. Due to the influx of abortion pill availability and misinformation, pregnancy centers are facing new challenges in the post-Dobbs era and need our continued and steadfast prayer and support.