Advocacy groups urge Schumer to hold vote on repealing Comstock abortion law

A coalition of advocacy organizations sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) this week urging him to hold a vote on a proposal aimed at guarding against a future Trump administration from reviving a long-dormant law to effectively ban abortion.

The letter, which was shared exclusively with The Hill, was signed by various abortion-rights and court-reform groups.

“The individuals Trump has lined up for a future administration are eager to weaponize the Comstock Act as soon as they can,” the letter reads. “We must stop them now.”

“We urge you to force abortion opponents to show their hand,” the group continued. “Put the Stop Comstock Act up for a vote and block them from weaponizing this dangerous law before it is too late.”

The Stop Comstock Act, which was introduced by Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) in June, seeks to repeal the abortion provisions of the 1873 federal law that bans abortion-related materials from being sent through the mail. 

Some experts say it’s been rendered obsolete, but abortion-rights advocates have sounded the alarm bell that a Republican administration could attempt to leverage the law to effectively ban abortion without Congressional action. 

Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, two of the Supreme Court’s leading conservatives, have signaled a willingness to revive the statute.

“Ever since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Republicans have worked tirelessly in state after state to restrict and eliminate access to abortion,” the letter reads. “But they intend to go even further: In published interviews and in the Project 2025 blueprint for a future Trump administration, they make it clear that they will misapply the Comstock Act of 1873 to ban abortion nationwide.”

The Hill has reached out to Schumer’s office for comment.

The signatories comprise Take Back the Court Action Fund, Healthcare Across Borders, Abortion Access Front, Lawyers for Good Government, UltraViolet Action, Access Reproductive Justice, Center for Genetics and Society, Chicago Women’s AIDS Project, Health Not Prisons Collective, Positive Women’s Network-USA and Good Health Community Programmes.

The former president in recent weeks has sought to pivot on abortion, including by saying Project 2025’s abortion proposals go “way too far.” His running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), has also suggested Trump would veto a national abortion ban.

“Trump’s daily flip-flopping and desperate attempts to create distance from his own anti-abortion record tell us two things: first, that he knows the American people don’t support his party’s crusade to ban abortion nationwide; and second, that he’s scared,” said Sarah Lipton-Lubet, president of Take Back the Court Action Fund, in a statement.

“But we all know where Trump and Republican lawmakers will land when push comes to shove,” she added.