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Democrats in Congress made a smart move this week, seeking a repeal of the Comstock Act — the weird, old-timey law that Republicans want to use to ban mailing abortion pills.
Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minnesota) introduced the legislation on Thursday, along with Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts), Catherine Cortez-Masto (D-Nevada), and 17 other Democratic senators. Companion legislation is set to be introduced in the House by Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vermont).
According to a press release from Sen. Smith’s office, the Stop Comstock Act intends to “repeal language in the Comstock Laws that could be used by an anti-abortion administration to ban the mailing of mifepristone and other drugs used in medication abortions, instruments and equipment used in abortions, and educational material related to sexual health.”
As I explained the last time I yelled about repealing the Comstock Act:
Well, we’ve still got the Comstock Act, named for the former Postmaster General and “anti-vice activist” Anthony Comstock who was, as Emma Goldman put it in her autobiography, the head of the “moral eunuchs of America.”
These laws bar “Every obscene, lewd, lascivious, indecent, filthy or vile article, matter, thing, device, or substance; and Every article or thing designed, adapted, or intended for producing abortion, or for any indecent or immoral use” — which, for Comstock, included pornography, literature, sex toys, sex advice and, of course, birth control. However, it hasn’t been used in decades, as evidenced by the fact that you can go over to Amazon and buy yourself as many dildos and copies of Tropic of Cancer as you like without fearing arrest.
Repealing the Comstock Act is, without question, an absolute necessity right now, with regards to protecting people’s right and ability to control their reproductive futures. Republicans have been clear that they want to use this “zombie law” to not only prevent those in states with abortion bans from getting abortion pills, but to ban mailing the pills just in general, along with the shipping of any medical devices associated with performing abortion — which, the authors of Project 2025 have noted, will eventually, effectively “ban” abortion across the country.
It can also be a great way to put Republicans in the position of having to defend some incredibly stupid and embarrassing things. The Comstock Act also bars mailing pornography, naughty books, and sex toys — and I would like to see Senator Ted Cruz get up there and explain exactly why we should throw people in prison for mailing someone some DH Lawrence or a Hitachi Magic Wand, and why it is so very, very important for the government to be so intimately involved in all of our private thoughts and actions. After all, he does have some experience defending a sex toy ban.
Do you think they want to do this? After having tried for the last several years to position themselves as freeze peach warriors and edgelords? Now, sure, we know they have no qualms about being massive hypocrites — but the more we push them towards prudishness, the more unappealing they become.
Let us not forget that Clarence “I Sure Wish It Were Still The 1800s!” Thomas is out here trying to get Texas v. Lawrence overturned as well, which would allow Republicans to send people to prison for having consensual (adult, human) sex they don’t like, in their own homes. And let’s not forget that, if Trump gets elected, they plan on instituting Project 2025 — which includes a roadmap on using Comstock to ban mailing abortion pills — to fire allllll civil servants and replace them with Trump loyalists. Perhaps they will create an entire civil service division of bureaucrats to monitor our communications for bad words and even hang out in our bedrooms and at our doctor’s appointments. Just to be safe!
It’s a slippery slope, people. And yes, this is an abortion access issue, but it’s also a free speech issue, it’s a freedom of expression issue and it should be an issue for every American regardless of their position on abortion.
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