As cases that could remove FDA approval of medication abortion–which accounts for at least 63% of all U.S. abortions–wind their way through the courts, abortion remains in more danger than ever.

The rise in medication abortions post-Roe has ignited new strategies in the conservative fight to eliminate all abortion access by any means necessary, including removing access to abortion pills. Anti-abortion extremists have weaponized the Comstock Act–outdated and harmful legislation from 1873–in small towns across the country, used it to warn corporate pharmacies against carrying abortion pills, and has even served as an argument for sitting justices of the Supreme Court for banning medication abortion.

The Comstock Act, a relic largely ignored for decades, has been revived by anti-abortion extremists as a dangerous weapon. The archaic law championed by notorious “anti-vice” crusader Anthony Comstock, who desired to save “the young from contamination” and “Devil traps,” aimed to suppress what he deemed to be obscene materials, which also included the distribution of birth control and disseminating information on abortion through the mail.

A radical interpretation of the Act could criminalize the shipping of any abortion-related materials, including medication and medical equipment, which would effectively ban all abortion care in the United States. As a federal law, the Comstock Act would supersede all state-level protections and carry with it potential prison sentences of up to 10 years and/or up to $250k in fines.

The Comstock Act is a relic of the past, wholly incompatible with our modern understanding of abortion care and bodily autonomy, and has no place in a society that values individual liberty and access to essential abortion services. This law must be immediately repealed by Congress in order to protect abortion access and reproductive freedom.

Sign the petition: We demand our legislators take immediate action to repeal the Comstock Act and remove this dangerous obstacle to safe and legal abortions.