Why anti-abortion groups are citing the ideas of a 19th-century ‘vice reformer’

Boxes containing doses of the abortion pill mifepristone are laid out at the Hope Clinic in Illinois. The Comstock Act of 1873, which outlawed the distribution of "obscene" materials such as contraception, is being cited as a basis for blocking the mailing of mifepristone.

Anthony Comstock pushed Congress to crack down on what he saw as harmful vices, such as pornography and contraception. An 1873 law named for him has appeared in recent court battles over abortion.

(Image credit: Sarah McCammon/NPR)

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Sarah McCammon