Texas Judge Rules To Suspend Abortion Pill Approval, Citing 1873 Anti-Obscenity Law
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Comstock Act, an 1873 anti-obscenity law was resurrected last Friday, April 7, 2023, by a Texas judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, to halt abortion pill approval. To better understand what Comstock Act is all about, please refer to the excerpt from wikipedia, in italics, below:
The Comstock laws were a set of federal acts passed by the United States Congress under the Grant administration along with related state laws.[1] The “parent” act (Sect. 211) was passed on March 3, 1873, as the Act for the Suppression of Trade in, and Circulation of, Obscene Literature and Articles of Immoral Use. This Act criminalized any use of the U.S. Postal Service to send any of the following items:[2] obscenity, contraceptives, abortifacients, sex toys, personal letters with any sexual content or information, or any information regarding the above items.
A similar federal act (Sect. 245) of 1909[3][4] applied to delivery by interstate “express” or any other common carrier (such as railroad), rather than delivery by the U.S. Post Office. In addition to these federal laws, about half of the states enacted laws related to the federal Comstock laws. These state laws are considered by women’s rights activist Mary Dennett[1] to also be “Comstock laws”. The laws were named after their chief proponent, U.S. Postal Inspector and anti-vice activist Anthony Comstock. Comstock received a commission from the Postmaster General to serve as a special agent for the U.S. Post Office Department.[5]
In Washington, D.C., where the federal government had direct jurisdiction, another Comstock act (Sect. 312) also made it illegal (punishable by up to five years at hard labor), to sell, lend, or give away any “obscene” publication, or article used for contraception or abortion.[5] Section 305 of the Tariff Act of 1922 forbade the importation of any contraceptive information or means.[4]
Numerous failed attempts were made to repeal or modify these laws and eventually, many of them (or portions of them) were declared unconstitutional. In a 1919 issue of the Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, Judge J. C. Ruppenthal, after reviewing the various laws (especially state laws) called the set of acts “haphazard and capricious” and lacking “any clear, broad, well-defined principle or purpose”.[6]
The restrictions on birth control in the Comstock laws were effectively rendered null and void by Supreme Court decisions Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)[7] and Eisenstadt v. Baird (1972).[8] Furthermore Congress removed the restrictions on contraception in 1971 but let the rest of the Comstock law stand.[9]
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, in the video published on April 10, 2023, by Democracy Now!, as “What Is the Comstock Act? Texas Judge Cites 1873 Anti-Obscenity Law to Halt Abortion Pill Approval“, below:
On Friday, April 7, 2023, a federal judge in Texas invalidated FDA approval of mifepristone, threatening access to the most common abortion pill in the country. Earlier this week, legislatures in Idaho, Kansas and Florida moved to further restrict abortion access in those states. Sarah Varney, senior correspondent for Kaiser Health News, joins Ali Rogin to discuss the latest developments, in the video published on April 8, 2023, by PBS NewsHour, as “Mifepristone ruling is latest in series of moves to curb abortion access“, below:
A federal judge in Texas suspended the FDA’s approval of the abortion pill mifepristone. The judge said the hold on the medication is to give the government time to appeal the decision. MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin reports, in the video published on April 7, 2023, by MSNBC, as “Judge suspends FDA approval of abortion pill mifespristone, but government can appeal“, below:
A judge in Texas invalidated FDA approval of the abortion drug mifepristone. Within an hour of the ruling, a judge in Washington ruled that the FDA is not allowed to pull the drug, a sign that the case will almost certainly be appealed to the Supreme Court. Melissa Murray, Irin Carmon, and Nancy Gertner join to discuss, in the video published on April 7, 2023, by MSNBC, as “Abortion pill case likely heads to SCOTUS after two judges issue conflicting rulings“, below:
We speak with Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, about the ruling by a Trump-appointed federal judge in Texas to revoke the Food and Drug Administration approval of the abortion pill mifepristone. Shortly after the Texas ruling, a federal judge in Washington ordered the FDA to keep mifepristone on the market and maintain the status quo. The Justice Department has appealed the Texas ruling. “People will not stop seeking access to abortion,” Johnson says. “We are just making it harder for people to get the medication and the care that they need, and that is just unconscionable.” in the video published on April 10, 2023, by Democracy Now!, as ““Unconscionable”: Planned Parenthood’s Alexis McGill Johnson Slams Texas Ruling on Abortion Pill“, below:
We look at the dueling rulings by two federal judges on the abortion pill mifepristone. A Trump-appointed judge in Texas suspended the Food and Drug Administration’s decades-old approval of the drug, while a judge in Washington state ordered the agency to maintain the status quo. Jessica Mason Pieklo, executive editor of _Rewire News Group_, says the judicial assault on reproductive health is “a constitutional crisis” that requires urgent attention. “This is not just about trying to restrict access to abortion pills. This is an authoritarian movement that is afoot in this country, and Congress needs to act.” Pieklo is the author, with Robin Marty, of _The End of Roe v. Wade: Inside the Right’s Plan to Destroy Legal Abortion_, in the video published on April 10, 2023, by Democracy Now!, as “Jessica Mason Pieklo: Republicans’ Anti-Abortion Moves Are Part of Wider “Authoritarian Movement“, below:
In a blow to reproductive rights, a federal Texas judge blocked the FDA’s approval of the abortion pill mifepristone. Within minutes of this decision, a federal judge in Washington issued a ruling in a separate case stating that the pill should remain available. Congresswoman Barbara Lee of California talks to MSNBC’s Ayman Mohyeldin about these contradicting rulings and the real-world impact, in the video published on April 9, 2023, by MSNBC, as “Congresswoman Lee calls abortion pill ruling ‘the most dangerous decision since Roe’“, below:
Ana Cabrera speaks with Michigan Attorney GeneralAn, who is vowing to defend access to medication abortion “in every way possible,” and proclaims that “we’re not going to let one judge in the state of Texas tell us in Michigan what we can and cannot do as it pertains to reproductive rights.” in the video published on April 10, 2023, by MSNBC, as “Michigan AG slams Texas abortion pill decision: ‘We’re not going to take this lying down’“, below:
We look at how racial disparities in healthcare treatment and access will shape the impact of anti-abortion rulings with Dr. DeShawn Taylor, an OB-GYN physician, abortion provider and owner of Desert Star Family Planning in Phoenix — the only Black-owned independent abortion provider in the border state of Arizona. Her upcoming book is _Undue Burden: A Black Woman Physician on Being Christian and Pro-Abortion in the Reproductive Justice Movement_, in the video published on April 10, 2023, by Democracy Now!, as “Arizona Abortion Provider: Texas Ruling on Mifepristone Leaves Patients & Clinics “in Limbo”” below:
In the video published on April 7, 2023, by CNN, as “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez reacts to Texas judge’s abortion pill ruling“, below:
Gathered, written, and posted by Windermere Sun-Susan Sun Nunamaker More about the community at www.WindermereSun.com
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