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Reproductive Rights Explainers
Comstock Act: The 1873 Law that Could Lead to a National Ban on Abortion
Anti-abortion groups are trying to create a nationwide abortion ban by enforcing a radical interpretation of the 1873 Comstock laws.
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TL;DR (too long, didn’t read)
Extremists are trying to block the mailing of abortion medication and equipment used for abortion care—even though there’s no basis for it.
But there is something you can do. Our reproductive freedom champions in Congress have introduced a bill to fight back.
Send an email to your Congressional lawmakers today urging them to co-sponsor in support of the Stop Comstock Act.
What is the Comstock Act?
The Victorian-era Comstock Laws were passed in 1873 and now anti-abortion groups are trying to weaponize it to ban abortion nationwide.
This could effectively ban abortion nationwide.
Medication abortion is used in the majority of abortion care across the country. It’s safe, effective, and a crucial way for people to make decisions about their own bodies and lives.
Based on conservatives’ baseless interpretation of Comstock, they could make it illegal for patients to receive abortion medication through the mail. The demand for in-person procedural abortion care would increase, making abortion all the more inaccessible.
Misusing an antiquated law like the Comstock Act is just the latest effort by anti-abortion extremists to ban all abortion, everywhere, for any reason—including in states where abortion is protected.
How Can This Happen?
With Trump in the White House and Pam Bondi leading the Department of Justice, the Comstock Act could be misused overnight, decimating abortion access across the country—without Congress passing a single new law. This is straight out of Project 2025—the blueprint for a conservative, anti-abortion takeover of our government.
What You Can Do
Trump, Bondi, and their anti-abortion extremist friends are hoping that people won’t pay attention to their misinterpretation and weaponization of Comstock.
We need to make sure that doesn’t happen. The more people who know about Comstock and the disastrous and dangerous implications it would have for abortion access, the more public pressure we can apply to make sure people have access to abortion.
Ask lawmakers to co-sponsor the Stop Comstock Act
Congress can fight back with the Stop Comstock Act which would protect the right to mail medication abortion, such as mifepristone, and equipment used for abortion care.
Spread the word on social media:
Comstock-Style Bans in the States
A number of state legislatures have been mimicking the federal government’s efforts to misuse the Comstock Act by introducing their own legislation.
- A bill introduced in Oklahoma (HB 1168) would prohibit the “trafficking” of medication abortion, including the acts of buying, selling, or delivering medication abortion, punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $100,000 fine.
- A bill introduced in Tennessee (SB 194) would prohibit mailing or delivering medication abortion into Tennessee and would impose a $5 million liability for resulting so-called “fetal deaths”.
- A bill introduced in Indiana (SB 171) would ban abortion medication in all circumstances while criminalizing providers that dispense or mail medication abortion pills into the state, and impose several other restrictions on abortion more broadly.
- A bill introduced in Missouri (SB 119) bans the possession and the delivery of medication abortion pills, punishable by a fine of up to $10,000 and up to 10 years in prison.
Make no mistake: what happens in one state can have ripple effects across the entire country.
Why This Fight Matters
Anti-abortion extremists never intended to stop when they overturned Roe v. Wade. They want to ban all abortion, and they are willing to try everything they can think of to make it happen. We need you in this fight.
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