Democrats Eye Comstock Act Repeal In Effort To Protect Reproductive Rights

NBC News: Democrats Target 150-Year-Old 'Zombie Law,' Warning The GOP Could Use It To Ban Abortion
A group of Senate Democrats is pushing to repeal a 150-year-old law that reproductive rights advocates fear could be used to further curb access to abortion, specifically abortion pills. The Comstock Act of 1873, which has not been widely enforced for decades, bans lewd, obscene or abortion-producing materials from being sent through the mail. As the abortion pill mifepristone faces legal challenges, its defenders fear a future president could use the Comstock Act as a tool to curtail abortion access nationwide, including in states where it is legal. (Vitali and Kapur, 6/20)

NPR: Abortion Is Becoming More Common In Primary Care Clinics
It’s a typical Tuesday at Seven Hills Family Medicine in Richmond, Va. The team — which consists of Dr. Stephanie Arnold, registered nurse Caci Young and several medical assistants — huddles to prepare for the day. Arnold, a primary care physician, runs through the schedule. The 9 a.m. telemed appointment is for chronic condition management. At 10 a.m. there’s a diabetes follow-up. The 11 a.m. appointment is to go over lab results for potential sleep apnea, then there are appointments for knee pain and one for ADHD results review. The schedulers fit in a walk-in patient who has a suspected yeast infection. (Simmons-Duffin and Nadworny, 6/21)

In related news about the Supreme Court —

The Hill: Supreme Court Abortion Pill Decision Ties Issue To Trump-Biden Race
The Supreme Court’s decision to dismiss a challenge to the abortion pill mifepristone means the drug’s future is now firmly tied to the 2024 presidential election. Anti-abortion groups said they were dealt only a temporary setback by last week’s ruling and are planning the path forward on how best to restrict access or get the drug removed from the market completely. (Weixel, 6/20)

AP: Here’s The Landscape 2 Years After The Supreme Court Overturned A National Right To Abortion
Abortion is now banned at all stages of pregnancy, with limited exceptions, in 14 Republican-controlled states. In three other states, it’s barred after about the first six weeks, which is before many know they are pregnant. Most Democratic-led states have taken actions to protect abortion rights, and become sanctuaries for out-of-state patients seeking care. That’s changed the landscape of abortion access, making it more of a logistical and financial ordeal for many in conservative states. But it has not reduced the overall number of procedures done each month across the U.S. (Mulvihill, 6/21)

USA Today: Supreme Court Dropping Decisions On Guns, Abortion, Trump Immunity And More In Coming Days
Buckle up. The Supreme Court in the coming days will issue a flurry of potentially blockbuster decisions on gun rights, abortion access, social media content, homelessness, federal regulatory authority, the opioid crisis and whether former President Donald Trump – and others – can be prosecuted for trying to overturn the 2020 election. The high court, which tries to dispense of pending cases by the end of June, has an unusually large number of decisions pending, particularly on hot button issues. Given the current pace of opinions, the term could slip into early July, something that has not happened since the height of the pandemic. (Groppe and Jansen, 6/20)

On IVF restrictions —

The Hill: Mark Kelly, Gabby Giffords Share IVF Journey To Highlight Challenges To Reproductive Rights
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) and his wife, former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Ariz.), opened up about their past fertility struggles to stress the importance of alternative pregnancy options, which they argued are under threat by politicians. In a personal essay published Thursday in People magazine, Kelly and Giffords described how a gunman in 2011 took away their dreams of having a child together, and their concern politicians will do the same for Americans. (Nazzaro, 6/20)