Originally published on July 7, 2021 5:44 pm
In 1873, Congress passed a law outlawing the distribution, sale, mailing and possession of "obscene" materials — including contraception.
The Comstock Act, as it became known, was named after Anthony Comstock, an anti-vice crusader who later became a special agent to the U.S. Post Office, giving him the power to enforce the law.
In her new book,
The Man Who Hated Women, author Amy Sohn writes about Comstock — as well as eight women charged with violating the Comstock Act
.
While working for the post office, Sohn says, Comstock "decoyed people" by using the mail to solicit obscenity and contraception.