Since Hunter Biden’s pardon, President Joe Biden has been under pressure to improve his clemency record — which is the lowest of any president in modern history — and now some abortion rights supporters are joining those calls.
They are specifically urging Biden to preemptively mass pardon abortion providers and patients to protect them from prosecution under the Comstock Act — a series of laws enacted in 1873 that prohibit the shipment of “every article or thing designed, adapted or intended for producing abortion.” But a mass pardon would not come without risks, some legal experts say.
The law, while unenforceable when Roe v. Wade was in place, could make the mailing of abortion pills illegal if President-elect Donald Trump chooses to enforce it. Some anti-abortion activists want to go further and enforce Comstock as a national abortion ban. Trump has indicated he’s not interested in enforcing the Comstock Act, but Pam Bondi, his pick to lead the Justice Department, is seen as an ally in the anti-abortion movement.