Why anti-abortion groups are citing the ideas of a 19th-century 'vice reformer'

Boxes containing doses of the abortion pill mifepristone are laid out at the Hope Clinic in Illinois. The Comstock Act of 1873, which outlawed the distribution of "obscene" materials such as contraception, is being cited as a basis for blocking the mailing of mifepristone. (Sarah McCammon/NPR)

A federal case challenging access to a common abortion pill is reviving discussions about a 150-year-old anti-obscenity law.

In 1873, what's known as the Comstock Act banned multiple items related to sex and reproductive health that many people see as quite ordinary today. Until recently, that law had been largely forgotten or ignored. But it's being cited in the federal case out of Texas that could curb access to the widely used abortion pill mifepristone.