Comstock Act (1873)

See Source Here: https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=017/llsl017.db&recNum=0639

This is the documentation of the passing of the Comstock Act in 1873 stating that the use of birth control had become completely illegal in the United States. The purpose of the document was to state that there could not be any type of material or drug sold for the purpose of preventing contraception and that there would be no circulation of obscene literature. This was a major issue for women of the late 1800’s because they were deprived of their freedom since they had to worry about getting pregnant if they would choose to engage in sexual activities. This document demonstrates how women’s sexual freedom was hindered since the act limited women’s reproductive rights. Although this act negatively impacted women when it was in action, it ultimately brought issues of reproductive privacy to the media and resulted in uprisings by women around the country until the act was eventually repealed.