Stop Comstock Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Stop Comstock Act revises federal criminal, postal, common-carrier, and tariff provisions often associated with the Comstock laws. It removes references to 'indecent' material and language covering articles, things, drugs, medicines, or means for procuring abortion from title 18 sections 552, 1461, and 1462 and from section 305(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930. The revised provisions continue to cover obscene materials, but no longer use those statutes to treat abortion-related materials as unmailable, nontransportable, or barred from import on that basis. The practical effect is to reduce federal criminal and customs exposure for mailing, carrying, or importing lawful abortion-related medications, devices, information, or supplies.
Who Benefits and How
Reproductive health providers benefit because abortion-related materials would no longer be covered by the removed Comstock language. Patients seeking medication abortion benefit if lawful medicines and related materials face less federal mail or import risk. Pharmacies and medical suppliers benefit from clearer federal treatment of lawful abortion-related items. Postal and common-carrier services benefit from a narrower rule focused on obscene materials rather than abortion-related items.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Anti-abortion enforcement advocates lose a federal statutory hook for challenging shipment or importation of abortion-related materials. Federal prosecutors must apply narrower title 18 language after abortion-related and indecent-material terms are removed. Customs officials must administer a Tariff Act import rule without the removed unlawful-abortion language. Congressional offices must handle continued conflict over whether Comstock-era statutes should apply to abortion-related materials.
Key Provisions
- Amends title 18 section 552 by removing indecent and abortion-related language.
- Amends title 18 section 1461 so the declaration focuses on obscene materials.
- Amends title 18 section 1462 common-carrier language to cover obscene material rather than listed abortion-related things.
- Amends Tariff Act section 305 to remove immoral and unlawful-abortion import language.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Narrows federal obscenity, mailing, common-carrier, and import restrictions by removing abortion-related and indecent-material language from Comstock-era statutes while leaving obscene-material restrictions in place.
Key Policy Areas
Reproductive Health, Criminal Law, Postal Service, Customs
Primary Purpose
Narrows federal obscenity, mailing, common-carrier, and import restrictions by removing abortion-related and indecent-material language from Comstock-era statutes while leaving obscene-material restrictions in place.
Policy Domains
Resolution provisions
Identified Gains
- Reproductive health providers
- Patients seeking medication abortion
- Pharmacies
- Postal carriers
Identified Costs
- Anti-abortion enforcement advocates
- Federal prosecutors
- Customs officials
- Congressional offices
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMs. Balint (for herself, Ms. Scanlon, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr. …
Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition …
Introduced in House
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Patients seeking medication abortion, Pharmacies, Reproductive health providers
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology