One moment in particular, during .”
These resolutions require abortion providers within municipal boundaries to obtain licenses where they state they will abide by the Comstock Act. Such a declaration would effectively mean they could not receive any drug or device that could be used in abortion, and thus could not perform abortions. Since abortion is legal in New Mexico, the state told the municipalities that their resolutions are unenforceable. The municipalities are now suing the New Mexico government in state court to be able to enforce their resolutions.
But the real message Alito and Thomas sent is to a prospective Trump administration, which could begin enforcement of the Comstock Act on day one — which, in turn, would likely lead to a prosecution and a lawsuit challenging the law’s enforcement.
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“The idea is that if Trump is in the White House, the Supreme Court would have no choice but to confront the Comstock Act because Trump would essentially force the issue,” Ziegler said.
Alito and Thomas have now also signaled their confirmation that at least two justices agree the Comstock Act is not a dead-letter law, and that they are willing to entertain it as groundwork for an ultimate ban on mailing anything used for abortion. It’s a confirmation anti-abortion activists needed.
