What was comstock law of 1873

Anthony Comstock was jubilant over his legislative victory. Soon after the federal law was on the books, twenty-four states enacted their own versions of Comstock laws to restrict the contraceptive trade on a state level.

The Most Restrictive States New England residents lived under the most restrictive laws in the country. In Massachusetts, anyone disseminating contraceptives -- or information about contraceptives -- faced stiff fines and imprisonment. But by far the most restrictive state of all was Connecticut, where the act of using birth control was even prohibited by law.

Married couples could be arrested for using birth control in the privacy of their own bedrooms, and subjected to a one-year prison sentence. In actuality, law enforcement agents often looked the other way when it came to anti-birth control laws, but the statutes remained on the books. Sanger's Crusade These laws remained unchallenged until birth-control advocate Margaret Sanger made it her mission to challenge the Comstock Act.

The first successful change in the laws came from Sanger's arrest for opening the first birth control clinic in America.

The case that grew out of her arrest resulted in the Crane decision, which allowed women to use birth control for therapeutic purposes. Circuit Court of Appeals decision, United States v. Authors Authors and affiliations Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access. Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz There are no affiliations available. Personalised recommendations. Skip navigation. This federal law was the beginning of a long fight over the reproductive rights of women which is still being waged.

Reproductive rights are important to embryology because they lead to the discussions regarding the morality of abortion , contraceptives, and ultimately the moral status of the embryo. Anthony Comstock had marshals sent to arrest Woodhull, after he received the literature, for violating state law.

Anthony Comstock , who was the head of the Society for the Suppression of Vice, spent most of his years lobbying for the bill to be passed into federal law. Comstock, Anthony. New York, NY: J.

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