Gilead
Abortion
Fig. 1. Sign at demonstration in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, May 3, 2022. Janni Rye, via Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.
I was wondering what had become of the Comstock Act, which does, or at least did, much more than is said here:
In his ruling, [U.S. District Judge Matthew J.] Kacsmaryk repeatedly invoked the Comstock Act, a 150-year-old law that prohibits mailing any drug used “for producing abortion,” which has not been applied for decades. Arguments that the Comstock Act no longer applies are “unpersuasive,” Kacsmaryk wrote, adding that federal criminal law declares abortion pills “nonmailable.”[1]
This law is ancient, dating to the 19th century, and should have been repealed or struck down in its entirety decades ago; that it apparently hasn’t says something, both about lingering prudery and Democratic Party negligence.
Ann E. Marimow et al., “Texas judge suspends FDA approval of abortion pill; second judge protects access,” Washington Post, April 7, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/04/07/texas-abortion-pill-ruling-mifepristone/
Gilead
Donald Trump
Hush money
Fig. 1. Cartoon by Jesse Duquette, undated, via “Minneapple23” [pseud.] on Imgur, April 1, 2023, fair use.
Jessica Levinson, “Alvin Bragg has some hurdles ahead, but that doesn’t mean he won’t clear them,” MSNBC, April 8, 2023, https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/alvin-bragg-can-make-case-trump-committed-felonies-rcna78392
- [1]Ann E. Marimow et al., “Texas judge suspends FDA approval of abortion pill; second judge protects access,” Washington Post, April 7, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/04/07/texas-abortion-pill-ruling-mifepristone/↩