A mobile billboard promoted abortion pills in Boise. It was asked to leave, nonprofit says

A nonprofit organization planned to spend three days in Boise — as part of a multi-state initiative — informing the public about reproductive rights and access to abortion pills.

But the visit was cut short.

Mayday Health Executive Director and President Jen Lincoln told the Idaho Statesman that a Boise officer asked the driver of a mobile billboard truck with messages supporting abortion rights to leave the city, and told the group that city code prohibited mobile billboards. Lincoln said the driver was pulled over by an officer around 10:30 a.m. Thursday near Boise State University.

Mayday Health referred to the incident in a tweet, which accused the Boise Police Department of violating the organization’s right to free speech. Records, from the city and Mayday Health, showed it was a code compliance officer who works within the city’s Department of Finance and Administration.

City spokesperson Maria Weeg told the Statesman that city code prohibits mobile billboards in Boise. A code compliance officer stopped the truck, according to a document that Mayday Health provided to the Statesman. The document is typically used to issue warnings on code violations, though Weeg insisted the city didn’t issue a warning.

“It doesn’t matter if they’re advertising Coca Cola,” Weeg said by phone about mobile billboards. “It doesn’t matter if they’re advertising either side of a political issue. It doesn’t matter if they’re advertising a tire company.”

Boise Code Compliance Officer Chris Koons alerted the driver of the city code violation, according to the warning issued. The warning cited a regulation that prohibits “any sign attached to or placed on a vehicle or trailer that is parked on public or private property or driven on public streets.”

The city exempts vehicles with displayed signs that have another main purpose, such as transportation, and vehicles registered and licensed to operate on public streets and “actively used or available for use” for the business, according to the city code. The code also doesn’t apply to magnetic and painted signs and decals.

In March 2022, Planned Parenthood had a mobile billboard truck near the Idaho Capitol during a protest against now-passed Senate Bill 1309, which allows certain family members of an aborted fetus to sue the health care providers who performed the procedure.

“I absolutely feel that our truck was asked to leave because it had the audacity to tell people that they could still access an abortion in a state that does not want people to know that,” Lincoln said by phone.

The truck’s digital screen feature flipped through statements such as, “Pregnant? You still have a choice,” and, “Abortion pills are safe, effective, and can be mailed to any address in Idaho.”

“It’s not a well-known code,” Koons told the mobile billboard driver in a recording, which the city provided to the Statesman. Koons also told the driver that he could reach out to the city’s Planning and Development Services Department to try and “petition” for a permit.

Lincoln in a follow-up interview said the officer told the driver to leave the city. After the interaction, the driver went to Meridian, where he spent the remainder of Thursday and Friday, Lincoln said.

Lincoln added that the mobile billboard company has been to Boise before and never had a problem.

“It’s a bit suspicious that this kind of truck is the one that gets pulled over,” Lincoln told the Statesman.

Weeg in an interview said city officials remain supportive of abortion rights.

“To be clear, both the mayor and City Council have consistently affirmed their support of women’s rights, specifically to health care,” Weeg said. “The city code is meant to keep our already crowded streets free of billboards on wheels.”

This isn’t Mayday Health’s first visit to Idaho. In October, a similar mobile billboard visited Moscow to promote access to contraceptives after the University of Idaho made local and national news over a publicized memo discouraging employees from promoting abortion.

“I think it’s a great time to review why these laws may exist, how they’re interpreted, and how they’re harming people, especially under the realm of free speech,” Lincoln said.

Mayday president says Idahoans can access abortion pills

Lincoln joked that Boise got the “gold star” as the only city where the organization ran into a problem.

Mayday Health sent trucks to 14 cities where abortion access is banned or restricted Wednesday, according to a news release from the organization. The cities included Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Nashville, Tennessee; Austin, Texas; Dallas; and Pierre, South Dakota.

The campaign is in response to a Texas judge’s decision that could jeopardize access to abortion pills, the news release said. The pending lawsuit challenges the U.S. Food and Drug Administration over a two-decade-old decision to distribute mifepristone, which is one of two drugs recommended to perform a medication abortion.

Idaho’s sweeping abortion ban already likely includes medication abortions, but steps are being taken to make sure the law is clear, the Statesman previously reported. The only exceptions to performing an abortion in Idaho is when the abortion is needed to save the person’s life or in cases of rape or incest — if a police report is provided.

Rep. Brent Crane, R-Nampa, previously told the Statesman that anti-abortion advocates are working on legislation to make sure “there’s no doubt that it’s not going to happen in Idaho.”

But Lincoln told the Statesman that there are ways to get abortion pills in banned states.

The U.S. Department of Justice in January stated abortion pills can be mailed to abortion-banned states, and Lincoln added that someone’s mail cannot be opened for “no reason.”

The Mayday Health website encourages anyone with legal questions about accessing abortion pills in Idaho or other states with abortion bans to visit the Repro Legal Healthline website.

“In many states, abortion clinics are extremely difficult to find, or have disappeared altogether,” Lincoln said in the news release. “It’s our responsibility as health care leaders and educators to inform all Americans that abortion pills are still accessible, no matter where you live.”