Anthony Comstock

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• SOURCE: The Hill
  3/3/2023
  

  At its 150th Anniversary, the Comstock Law is Relevant Again

  by Jonathan Friedman and Amy Werbel

  Anthony Comstock drew on elite connections to give himself near unilateral power to confiscate "obscene, lewd, lascivious, indecent, or immoral" materials —terms he was free to define on his own—and prosecute people for possessing them. Right-wing politicians seem to be inspired by the example. 

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• 3/5/2023
  

  The Defiant Woman at the Center of New York's First Abortion Battle

  by Alan J. Singer

  Carolyn Ann Trow Lohman, better known as Madame Restell, defied the authority of the medical establishment and moral crusaders to help women obtain abortions. Justice Alito's misuse of history to justify the Dobbs decision shows the need to remember her. 

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• SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
  7/6/2022
  

  Conservatives Attacking Pornography Carry on History of Politicized Moral Panics

  by Kelsy Burke

  Calls by J.D. Vance and other conservative politicians for bans on pornography echo the tactics and the failures of America's first anti-obscenity crusader, Anthony Comstock. 

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• SOURCE: Atlas Obscura
  4/22/2022
  

  The 19th Century Woman's Secret Guides to Birth Control

  Women have always tried to share information enabling them to control their reproductive health, and others have always tried to stop them. Secrecy, coded language and misdirection are historical puzzles to untangle, say Andrea Tone, Naomi Rendina, Lauren Thompson and Donna Drucker. 

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• SOURCE: NPR
  7/7/2021
  

  How An Anti-Vice Crusader Sabotaged The Early Birth Control Movement

  Author Amy Sohn discusses her new book on the life and work of anti-vice crusader Anthony Comstock, who's work resulted in the restriction of contraception for a century.