The Abortion Medication Ruling Threatens Free Speech Online

April 12, 2023

(Wired) – The US District court decision to block access to the abortion pill mifepristone has threatened the most common form of abortion. In his ruling, Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk invoked the long-dormant Comstock Act, an 1873 Victorian-era law that targeted obscenity, contraception, and abortion materials sent through the mail. While nearly all of the Comstock Act has been held to be unconstitutional, the provisions regarding abortion-related material were never explicitly overturned—and Kacsmaryk’s use of the act in his decision may revive a little-known provision from the 1990s that allows it to apply to telecommunications law. This decision is a harbinger for a broader crackdown on abortion-related content on the internet. (Read More)