(TheRedAlertNews.com) – President Joe Biden’s Justice Department has announced that the US Postal Service is allowed to keep delivering abortion pills to recipients in Republican-run states that restrict the practice.
Dozens of states have banned or restricted abortion since last June when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, ending federally sanctioned universal access to abortion.
Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a legal opinion through its Office of Legal Counsel declaring that the mailing of abortion pills did not break the Comstock Act of 1873.
The announcement refers to the two prescription drugs used to cause abortion – mifepristone and misoprostol.
The DOJ said the original Comstock Act sought to “prevent the mail from being used to corrupt the public morals.” However, it prevented the mailing of writing, which was later considered protected by the free speech First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The U.S. Congress has, for the most part, revoked any limitations on mailing contraceptives such as the birth control pill.
“Federal law does not prohibit the use of mifepristone and misoprostol. Indeed, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (‘FDA’) has determined the use of mifepristone in a regimen with misoprostol to be safe and effective for the medical termination of early pregnancy,” the DOJ opinion says, as cited by Fox News.
“Moreover, there are manifold ways in which recipients in every state may use these drugs, including to produce an abortion, without violating state law. Therefore, the mere mailing of such drugs to a particular jurisdiction is an insufficient basis for concluding that the sender intends them to be used unlawfully,” Biden’s Justice Department concluded.
The DOJ opinion also covers other carriers that may deliver abortion pills – such as FedEx and UPS. However, it does not refer to any other federal status different from the Comstock Act.
The DOJ position does not provide immunity from prosecution to recipients or senders as prosecutors in states that ban abortion could press charges against them.
The Justice Department’s announcement on USPS was not the only pro-abortion action taken by the Biden administration this week.
Roughly at the same time, Biden’s Food and Drug Administration cleared retail pharmacies such as CVS or Walgreens to sell prescription abortion pills.
Last year, the Biden administration made it clear it would not seek to punish women who don’t pick up abortion pills in person.
The new FDA rule updates the pill’s label, thus allowing “many more retail pharmacies” to sell the abortion drug following a certification process.
The change may also allow access to abortion pills through online pharmacies and brick-and-mortar stores.
Justice Department clears US Postal Service to deliver abortion drugs into Republican states https://t.co/6b2mWj0eVv
— Fox News (@FoxNews) January 5, 2023
