2023-04-10 12:36:07

What Is the Comstock Act? Texas Judge Cites 1873 Anti-Obscenity Law to Halt Abortion Pill Approval

When U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk ruled Friday the Food and Drug Administration’s two-decade old approval of the leading abortion drug mifepristone violates the law, he cited the 19th century Comstock Act, a so-called anti-vice law that prohibits the mailing of contraceptives and instruments or drugs that can be used in an abortion. It has been dormant for half a century. We speak to Lauren MacIvor Thompson, a historian of birth control, about the Comstock Act and its legacy.

Democracy Now! produces a daily, global, independent news hour hosted by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan González. Our reporting includes breaking daily news headlines and in-depth interviews with people on the front lines of the world’s most pressing issues. 

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abortion pill Comstock Act Democracy Now! Free Speech TV FSTV Lauren MacIvor Thompson Matthew Kacsmaryk Mifepristone U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk

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