By If/When/How
Today, The Washington Sun reported that White House officials have instructed the DOJ to move slowly on rolling back abortion access until after the midterms to avoid unwanted attention and alienating voters. But, following the November election, the “gloves will be off.” In their reporting, anti-abortion extremists publicly claimed that the Trump administration plans to begin curtailing access to abortion pills—through enforcing the Comstock Act and litigation—after midterm elections.
The Comstock Act is a 1873 zombie law that makes it a crime to mail any materials considered “obscene,” including birth control or abortion materials. Anti-abortion policymakers want to bring the law back from the dead to try to end access to abortion in every state in the U.S. If the Trump administration revives the Comstock Act—and the Supreme Court allows the law to be enforced—it could become impossible to get or provide an abortion. This could include a stop to the mailing of medication abortion, or all medical materials used in abortion care. Mail carriers could be deputized to search people’s mail for abortion medication. Or the FDA could restrict mailing abortion medication, and they could stop pharmacists from distributing abortion medication.
“Abortion pills are a lifeline for people across the U.S. Cutting off or reducing access to abortion pills would have a devastating impact across the country—especially on people who live under abortion bans or in rural communities. To put it plainly, if the Trump Administration expands their anti-abortion regime, they will kill people,” said If/When/How Senior Counsel and Legal Director, Farah Diaz-Tello.
“Since the Supreme Court rolled back the federal right to abortion, maternal mortality rates have risen in states that ban abortion. Already, dozens of women’s deaths have been directly tied to the Dobbs decision and state abortion bans. How many more women have to die before the Trump administration prioritizes pregnant people’s safety and well-being?”
Anti-abortion politicians insisted that the Dobbs decision was about returning laws around abortion “back to the states.” Any federal Trump Administration action on abortion further shows this premise was a brazen lie.
“Dobbs laid the groundwork to roll back all of our rights and ensure none of us have access to abortion care. Just as they lied about the intention behind the Dobbs decision, they are lying about who they will punish and persecute for abortion. Anti-abortion zealots have claimed that the Comstock Act will allow them to jail pregnant people for seeking abortion care,” said Diaz-Tello. “Already, criminalization of abortion-seekers and their loved ones has escalated in the years following the Dobbs decision. Expanding the role of police and prosecutors in people’s healthcare decisions will make all of us less safe. Abortion seekers will be isolated, vulnerable, and too scared to ask for help from healthcare providers or their loved ones.”