Democrats target 150-year-old 'zombie law,' warning the GOP could use it to ban abortion
Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., at a news conference this week about protection reproductive rights.Anna Moneymaker / Getty ImagesAdd NBC News to GoogleJune 20, 2024, 11:32 AM EDT / Updated June 20, 2024, 5:30 PM EDTBy Ali Vitali and Sahil KapurWASHINGTON — A group of Senate Democrats is pushing to repeal a 150-year-old law that reproductive rights advocates fear could be used to further curb access to abortion, specifically abortion pills.The Comstock Act of 1873, which has not been widely enforced for decades, bans lewd, obscene or abortion-producing materials from being sent through the mail.
As the abortion pill mifepristone faces legal challenges, its defenders fear a future president could use the Comstock Act as a tool to curtail abortion access nationwide, including in states where it is legal.“The Comstock Act is a 150-year-old zombie law banning abortion that’s long been relegated to the dustbin of history,” Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., a leader on the bill, said in a statement announcing the legislative push. “Now that Trump has overturned Roe, a future Republican administration could misapply this 150-year-old Comstock law to deny American women their rights, even in states where…
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