Congressional Democrats say leading abortion rights groups have been directing them not to talk about repealing the Comstock Act and are actively discouraging them from introducing legislation to address it, NOTUS has learned.
Even as conservatives are publicly pushing Donald Trump to enforce the Comstock Act as a national abortion ban if he becomes president in 2025, Planned Parenthood, the Center for Reproductive Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union — who are all heavily involved in legal cases challenging abortion restrictions — have in at least two separate instances gotten lawmakers to change a bill’s text or kept them from introducing legislation altogether. The groups say they’re concerned that any action could impact the outcome of ongoing lawsuits, even as bills seeking to protect abortion access are highly unlikely to be enacted.
Publicly, Democrats are standing behind abortion rights groups’ arguments about being careful with the law. But privately, there’s frustration and “a lot of internal tension,” one House Democrat told NOTUS, between those who believe that lawmakers should stay away from trying to repeal Comstock while litigation continues and those who see it as a potent political message to communicate to voters as soon as possible ahead of November.