Abortion education group to advertise 'abortion pills by mail' at Indy 500
Mayday Health arranged for a plane to fly over Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 23, May 24 and during the Indy 500 on May 25 carrying a banner with the message 'Abortion pills by mail," emphasizing that Hoosiers can still get abortion pills by mail.
The group's effort in Indiana over Memorial Day Weekend is purposeful. More than 300,000 people will attend the Indy 500 on May 25 and events are scheduled at IMS throughout the weekend. Indiana is also among states with bans on abortion. State lawmakers passed a near-total abortion ban in 2022.
'That's an incredibly restrictive ban, and a lot of people in Indiana, if they're pregnant, they might think they're out of options,' said Liv Raisner, the founder and executive director of Mayday Health. 'But the reality is that folks in Indiana, just like anyone in the country, can take advantage of the fact that pills are available through the mail. That has not changed.'
It's not the first campaign Mayday Health has organized in a state with abortion restrictions. Earlier this year the group drove a digital billboard truck and launched a poster campaign in Tennessee, where abortion is illegal.
Indiana's abortion law, which went into effect in 2023, prohibits doctors from providing abortions except in the case of rape, incest, fatal fetal anomalies or if the pregnant person's life at risk.
State law says medication abortions must be conducted in-person, not through telehealth, but federal regulations do allow abortion-inducing drugs to be accessed through telehealth services and mailed to patients from out-of-state.
Less than 150 abortions were performed in Indiana in 2024, according to recent data from the state Department of Health. Just 36 of those procedures were performed using abortion drugs misoprostol and/or mifepristone, according to the DOH.
During Indiana's 2025 legislative session, Republican lawmakers filed multiple bills targeting abortion pills. All of the proposals died during the session.
Abortion in Indiana: Indiana already banned abortions. Now, state lawmakers are eyeing abortion pills.
But the federal Food and Drug Administration, which approved the use of abortion drug mifepristone more than 20 years ago, continues to say the drug is safe if used as directed. Last summer, the U.S. Supreme Court preserved access to mifepristone.
Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Brittany Carloni at brittany.carloni@indystar.com. Follow her on Twitter/X @CarloniBrittany.
IndyStar reporter Kayla Dwyer contributed to this story.
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