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Comstock Act



  • Judge Kacsmaryk Misread the Comstock Act

    by Lauren MacIvor Thompson

    The initial draft of the 1873 anti-obscenity legislation, which banned mailing information about and devices or medicines intended to induce abortion, had an exemption for physicians, and later court precedents interpreted the act as if that exemption were part of the law. Judge Kacsmaryk has ignored this legal history in his ruling. 



  • How the Comstock Act is Making a Comeback

    Lauren MacIvor Thompson and Mary Ziegler discuss the history of the 19th century Comstock Act and its appeal to abortion opponents as a legal tool to ban abortion nationally.