Comstock Act

Emboldened anti-abortion groups create wishlist for second Trump term

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Earlier this week, the powerful Students for Life of America released its wishlist of federal legislation, entitled “Make America Pro-Life Again”, which takes direct aim at access to abortion pills. The group is backing federal bills that would ban abortion pills entirely, outlaw telehealth abortions and require medical-grade cleanup of the pregnancy remains left behind … Read more

Make no mistake: this Trump presidency will continue to attack abortion rights | Moira Donegan – opinion

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But Republicans do not even need to manage to pass a bill through Congress to make abortion much more difficult to get. Trump can simply restrict abortion through federal agencies. He will soon be in control of the FDA, for example, which regulates the abortion drug mifepristone, part of a two-drug regimen that now accounts … Read more

Will state laws protect abortion under a Trump presidency? Probably not

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“State constitutions provide no protection whatsoever against Comstock Act, against the Trump national abortion ban, against fetal personhood within the 14th Amendment,” Cohen explained. “Which is why there were many of us who were trying to get the word out before the election, that if you really do care about reproductive freedom and vote accordingly … Read more

‘Sounding alarm for 10 years’: Mississippi residents warn of Project 2025 ramifications

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In several states across the country, there are already extreme abortion bans that have led to the deaths of multiple pregnant women and at least one teen; restrictive voting policies that make it difficult for citizens to cast their ballots; defunding of education and censorship of books; and other such policies that have also been … Read more

Rage Over Government Overreach Fuels Fight to Protect Abortion in Arizona

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One by one, the speakers raise alarms about policies that might be enacted if Trump is elected this November — including the possible revival of the Comstock Act, a 150-year-old law that Trump allies have touted as a de facto national ban on abortion. Left mostly unsaid is the fact that without a Democratic majority … Read more

Abortion access is settled law in Oregon. So why are advocates worried?

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There is one law in particular, known as the Comstock Act, that has resurfaced and has many abortion rights advocates worried. The 1873 federal law prohibits mailing or transporting items across state lines that could be used in producing an abortion. Some have interpreted that could mean anything used in an abortion, from the equipment … Read more

Life-threatening crises, frantic calls: Idaho offers glimpse of what abortion could look like under Trump

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Some anti-abortion activists believe the Comstock Act can do even more: if enacted to its fullest extent, it could not only ban pills but the very equipment that clinics need to do their jobs. Without ever involving Congress, Trump could use the Comstock Act to implement a nationwide de facto abortion ban. And if he … Read more

Abortion Pills Have Changed the Post-Roe Calculus

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Anti-abortion groups could also test the limits of shield laws in more indirect ways. In Texas, says John Seago, the president of Texas Right to Life, pro-abortion groups have put up billboards advertising abortion pills: “You can go to people putting up the billboard. That’s aiding and abetting.” His group has also encouraged Texas lawmakers … Read more