1873 Law Targets Mailbox Abortions

America’s next attorney general just vowed to use a 150-year-old law to help shut down abortion pills sent through the mail, raising big questions about who really controls your health care and your mailbox.

Story Snapshot

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told senators he will move to stop abortion pills from being mailed if confirmed.
Blanche and Republican senators pointed to the 1873 Comstock Act, which bans mailing items used for abortion.
A Biden-era Justice Department opinion says the Comstock Act does not block mailing abortion pills when they can be used legally.
The fight over mailed abortion pills shows how old laws and modern politics collide while everyday Americans feel ignored.

Blanche’s vow on abortion pills by mail

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told senators at his confirmation hearing that, if confirmed, he will take action to stop abortion medication from being available through the mail. Blanche said the Trump administration opposes the 2022 policy that let doctors send the abortion pill mifepristone to patients by mail and that the Department of Justice could change that policy. He did not lay out a detailed plan but clearly signaled that limiting mail-order abortion pills would be a top priority.

Republican senators, especially Ted Cruz of Texas, pressed Blanche on whether he would revisit the Justice Department’s current reading of the Comstock Act. Cruz asked if Blanche would “commit to carefully reviewing” the Biden-era legal opinion that allows mailing mifepristone when there is no intent for it to be used unlawfully. Blanche answered “Yes, I will,” agreeing to review the opinion and its use of the Comstock Act’s language on abortion-related items.

The Comstock Act and the legal fight over the mail

The Comstock Act is an 1873 law that makes it a crime to use the mail to send “obscene” materials, including drugs that induce abortion. For decades, courts have narrowed how this law works, finding that it applies when a sender intends the drugs to be used for an illegal abortion. In 2022, the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel said section 1461 does not forbid mailing abortion drugs when the sender lacks that unlawful intent, because people in every state have ways to use them legally, such as saving the life of the pregnant person.

Anti-abortion advocates now argue for a much stricter reading of the Comstock Act. A recent letter from U.S. Catholic bishops urged Blanche to rescind the 2022 Justice Department opinion and enforce the law against entities that send mifepristone by mail, claiming the statute itself makes mailing these drugs illegal without any need to prove criminal intent. Some legal scholars and advocacy groups back this view, saying the clear text of section 1461 bans mailing modern abortion pills outright. Others warn this “zombie law” was dormant for decades and should not be used as a nationwide abortion ban without new action from Congress.

Senate hearing exposes deeper trust problems

Blanche arrives at this confirmation fight with heavy baggage. An Epstein survivor and former Department of Justice pardon attorney Elizabeth Oyer testified that Blanche’s past statements about his work at the department were “provably false,” pointing to hundreds of court order violations and cases where judges found the Justice Department gave misleading information. A federal judge previously concluded Blanche personally misled Congress about a collusive settlement that protected Trump’s businesses and cost taxpayers nearly $2 billion, which raised doubts about whether he will put law above loyalty.

Senator Cory Booker and Senator Mazie Hirono went further, accusing Blanche of helping turn the Justice Department into a “Department of retribution and corruption.” They cited lawsuits over voter lists, clashes with judges, and the flawed handling of Jeffrey Epstein files, where survivors’ private information was exposed while Blanche met with Ghislaine Maxwell instead of the victims. These stories feed a growing belief on both the right and the left that powerful insiders, not regular citizens, call the shots in Washington, and that justice decisions are driven by politics, not principle.

What this means for abortion, states, and ordinary Americans

Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, fights over abortion pills have moved from clinics to the mail system. Some federal judges, including one in Texas, have agreed with Christian conservative groups that the Comstock Act should be read literally to bar sending mifepristone through the mail. At the same time, other courts and the existing Justice Department opinion say the law only reaches mailings aimed at unlawful abortions, leaving room for legal use even in states with strong abortion limits.

A heated Senate hearing unfolded as Sen. Cory Booker questioned Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche about Ghislaine Maxwell's transfer to a minimum-security prison camp.

Blanche denied involvement in the decision, while Booker argued the move raised serious questions under… pic.twitter.com/9p5ZoF2GIs

— Context Corner (@ContextC56659) July 17, 2026

For conservatives, Blanche’s vow can look like a long-awaited effort to enforce a law they believe has been ignored and to push back against what they see as a “mailbox abortion” system created by distant bureaucrats. For liberals, it feels like another step toward a national abortion ban driven by political appointees using an outdated statute instead of open debate in Congress. For many Americans of all views, the bigger worry is that unelected elites keep making high-stakes decisions behind closed doors while basic problems like health costs, wages, and community safety stay unsolved.