Get the Facts: 1873 Comstock Act used in abortion pill decision
Fact-check shows how federal judge in Texas used century-and-a-half-old law to order halt to mifepristone access
Fact-check shows how federal judge in Texas used century-and-a-half-old law to order halt to mifepristone access
Fact-check shows how federal judge in Texas used century-and-a-half-old law to order halt to mifepristone access
A federal judge’s decision overturning the Food and Drug Administration’s decades-old approval of a pill widely used in medical abortions relied, in part, on a century-and-a-half-old law called the Comstock Act.
Enacted in 1873, the law — not enforced in decades — prohibited the mailing of contraceptives, “lewd” writings and any “instrument, substance, drug, medicine or thing” that could be used in an abortion.
Watch our story above to ‘Get the Facts’ on the Comstock Act.
- Watch our ‘Get the Facts’ story on whether conservative Supreme Court justices promised to not overturn Roe v. Wade during their confirmation hearings.
Mark Albert is the chief national investigative correspondent for the Hearst Television National Investigative Unit, based in Washington D.C. Wendy Wilk, Tamika Cody, and David Barcenas contributed to this report.
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