WASHINGTON—U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) joined 23 of their Senate colleagues in reintroducing the Stop Comstock Act (SCA), landmark legislation to repeal an arcane 1873 law, the Comstock Act, that anti-choice extremists have repeatedly invoked as a backdoor means to effectively ban abortion nationwide without a single act of Congress. The Comstock Act is a centerpiece of Project 2025, the blueprint that Donald Trump and his Administration are following, and if misused, this ancient law would effectively end access to medication abortion nationwide without a single act of Congress.  

Donald Trump has installed an anti-abortion extremist as head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) who declined to acknowledge the settled science proving mifepristone’s safety and efficacy, signaling that access to medication abortion will continue to face threats under this Administration. 

“Donald Trump and Republicans are so desperate to ban abortion nationwide that they’re dragging out a law from the 1800s to do it. It doesn’t get more shameless than this—using a law passed before women could even vote to strip them of their right to make their own health care decisions,” said Murphy.

“I’m helping lead a vital measure to protect women’s reproductive freedom again lawless, reckless use of the Comstock Act,” said Blumenthal. “Women’s health care is under attack like never before under the Trump Administration, in Congress, and in far too many states. Anti-abortion extremists are seeking to misuse this long-dead law – literally over 150 years old – to block access to safe and effective medication abortion. I’ll continue to fight these efforts by supporting the Stop Comstock Act which makes clear that the law doesn’t prohibit access to this much needed and widely used medication.”

The Comstock laws are a set of 1800s laws meant to ban the mailing or shipping of every obscene, lewd, indecent, article, matter, thing or device, with the goal of restricting abortion, contraceptives, and even love letters.  

The Stop Comstock Act would repeal language in the Comstock Laws that could be used by an anti-abortion administration to ban the mailing of mifepristone and other drugs used in medication abortions, instruments and equipment used in abortions, and educational material related to sexual health. Medication abortion is how nearly 60% of abortions take place in this country today. It is the most common form of abortion in the United States.  

U.S. Senators Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Angus King (I-Maine), Catherine Cortez-Masto (D-Nev.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) also cosponsored the legislation.

The legislation been endorsed by the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Center for Reproductive Rights, National Women’s Law Center, Reproductive Freedom for All (formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America), Take Back the Court Action Fund, Healthcare Across Borders, Expanding Medication Abortion Access (EMAA).

A summary of the bill is available HERE and the full bill text is available HERE.

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