WASHINGTON DC (KOLO) – U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto and 24 other Senators are reintroducing a bill that would abolish the Comstock Act.
The law, passed in the late 19th Century, criminalized the use of any post office to send anything considered lewd or offensive.
According to Cortez Masto, the act has been invoked by pro-life Republicans as a means of justifying anti-abortion legislation and has been cited by Supreme Court justices during oral arguments over whether to prohibit access to abortion medication Mifepristone.
“Anti-choice Republicans have made it clear they want to use this 150-year-old law to enact a national abortion ban – even without the support of Congress or the American people,” said Senator Cortez Masto. “It’s time for Congress to act – we must repeal Comstock and protect women’s access to reproductive health care.”
The Stop Comstock Act would repeal the language of the law that Cortez Masto fears could be used by Republican politicians to ban the mailing of Mifepristone.
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