A banner advertising abortion pills flew over Indianapolis 500 events over the weekend. (Courtesy Mayday Health)
A plane towing a banner that read ‘Abortion pills by mail’ flew over the heads of hundreds of thousands of racegoers at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during Memorial Day weekend.
Mayday Health, an abortion education nonprofit, flew the aerial campaign on Friday’s Carb Day, over the Saturday parade and during the race on Sunday. The three-day blitz aimed to inform Hoosiers that despite Indiana’s near-total abortion ban, FDA-approved abortion pills remain accessible by mail nationwide.
“Mayday spreads a simple message with many people – abortion pills are available by mail in all 50 states,” Mayday Health Founder and Executive Director Liv Raisner said.
Indiana’s near-total abortion ban that took effect in August 2023 outlaws abortion except in cases of fatal fetal anomalies and serious health risks to the mother. Victims of rape or incest are also allowed to access abortion care up to 10 weeks post-fertilization. The law mandates that hospitals perform all abortions. While performing an illegal abortion is a felony for doctors in Indiana, women seeking abortions face no criminal penalties.
Raisner said Mayday does not ship the abortion pills but lists providers and connects people with several different resources depending on their needs. From there, individuals who seek help can consult with a physician who can send the pill through the mail.
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Indy 500 had no affiliation with the banner. Under FAA regulations, the agency does not regulate messaging on advertisement banners towed by aircraft. Raisner said the only restriction they had was to stop flying the banner when the cars started their engines shortly after noon.
Reaction
Some posting on social media didn’t approve of the message. One poster on X said “Somebody explain to me why there is a plane waving a banner reading “Abortion pills by mail” that is hovering over my head above the infield at the Indy 500 of all places.”
Other posters called it “disgusting” and “ridiculous.”
But another X post said, “The Indy 500 was surprising pretty progressive. Trump was persona non grata, a non American sang God Bless America and there was an abortion pills by mail banner flying over the track!”
Trump was invited to come to the race but declined with no explanation.
This is not the first abortion campaign to fly over the Indy 500. In 2019, Bloomington-based All-Options Pregnancy Resource Center flew a banner that read “Abortion is OK!” over the Indy 500.
Raisner said the organization takes a “bold-guerilla” approach with their campaigns. Since 2022, Mayday has driven digital billboard trucks to Taylor Swift concerts, sent flyers to rape crisis centers in Tennessee, flown airplanes, driven boats and hosted an abortion pop-up store.
Raisner said Mayday will return to Indy 500 next year and maybe sooner for a future campaign.
“We want to spread the message because there is so much misinformation about abortion pills” they said. “Most people in restricted abortion states don’t even know what the laws are for abortion.”
Indiana’s first full year under the ban shows a total of 146 abortions were performed in Indiana, a 96% decrease from 2022. More than half were performed by using an abortion pill or intracardiac injections.
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously decided to preserve access to medication, Mifepristone, one of the two drugs used in nearly two-thirds of all abortions in the U.S.
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