Supreme Court abortion case brings 19th century chastity law to the forefront | CNN Politics

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

62% : As of now, Trump has been “in listening mode,” one of the sources said, and is being advised by several of his top anti-abortion allies on the different angles of the case.
57% : But there is uncertainty and disagreement among anti-abortion advocates about what that means.
56% : Their interest in the law’s relevance to Tuesday’s case speaks to how the Comstock Act has taken a more prominent role in the efforts to further limit abortion.
55% : Severino described to CNN a scenario in which misoprostol – the other drug used for medication abortion – would still be accessible to women seeking abortion in states where abortion is legal, since misoprostol also has non-abortion uses.
52% : Among other arguments, the case’s plaintiffs, anti-abortion doctors and medical associations, have invoked the Comstock Act to argue the FDA acted unlawfully by not considering the 19th century criminal prohibition on mailing abortion drugs.
49% : “We could well see Comstock referenced in the court’s ultimate decision, either with respect to the outcome of this case, or a broader signaling of how some of the justices believe this Comstock Act could be used to strip away our right to abortion nationwide altogether,” said Julia Kaye, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU reproductive freedom project, on a press call after the arguments.
49% : With the Supreme Court unlikely to reach any conclusions about the law’s reach in the case it heard Tuesday, the candidate who wins the presidency in 2024 could decide whether the Comstock Act will take on new life.
44% : Access to clinical abortion could also be effectively ended, some believe, under an extreme reading of the law, if the Comstock Act was used to prohibit the shipment of tools and instruments used for abortions to abortion providers.
40% : Thomas also invoked the statute, asking a lawyer for the mifepristone manufacturer how she would respond to the argument that “mailing your product and advertising it would violate the Comstock Act.”
39% : Some prominent figures in the anti-abortion movement dismiss the possibility that it would be used to effectively ban medication abortion, which depends on the shipment of abortion drugs to providers, even as other abortion foes have said the law – interpreted to its fullest extent – could potentially end not only medication abortion, but abortion altogether.
34% : There are now calls from within the anti-abortion movement for the Comstock Act to be enforced by the next Republican administration to ban the mailing of abortion medication – a move that would not require any action by Congress nor any blessing from the Supreme Court.
32% : The Trump campaign has avoided publicly weighing in on the Comstock Act or even the related question of how abortion pills would be regulated if he returned to the White House.
23% : Some in the anti-abortion movement, including advocates who asked for anonymity to speak candidly to CNN, are wary of a political backlash if the Comstock Act is enforced too aggressively – a backlash that would put pressure on Congress to repeal it altogether – and caution that former President Donald Trump, if he is reelected, should consider the political risks in deciding how his administration should wield the law.
22% : The Biden administration contends the Comstock Act is not relevant to the current dispute over the drug’s medical regulations, because it is not the FDA’s job to interpret and enforce a criminal statute.
21% : People close to Trump told CNN they acknowledge the complexity of the issue, as well as that many leading anti-abortion groups have different opinions on how to approach the legal fight.

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