From Axios :
From abcNEWS :
The 1873 Comstock Act banned the mailing of materials that were deemed "obscene, lewd, lascivious," which included things like contraception, abortion drugs and pornography.
- White the law has been narrowed since its inception, the abortion provision has remained in place — though it was not enforced while Roe v. Wade was precedent.
- Specifically, the Comstock Act declares "every article or thing designed, adapted, or intended for producing abortion" to be "nonmailable."
State of play: When the Dobbs decision ended federal protections for abortion, the Comstock Act became potentially enforceable once again.
- Some anti-abortion advocates have even argued the Comstock Act could enable the next Republican president to effectively ban most abortions.
- After the Dobbs decision, the Biden administration released a memo arguing that the Comstock Act doesn't ban the mailing of abortion drugs for lawful purposes.
From abcNEWS :
"Now that Roe v. Wade is gone, that protection against Comstock is gone," said David S. Cohen, a law professor at Drexel University. "Some within the anti-abortion movement are being very explicit about how they want to use Comstock to almost function as a national abortion ban -- without Congress having to lift a finger."
To be filed under: Elections Matter.