This will be significant not just in Arkansas but also across the country. To date, abortion opponents have found no way to defeat ballot initiatives. Moves like this may embolden actors in other states.

It's striking how many people close to Trump have called on DOJ to treat Comstock as a ban on mailing abortion-related items. It seems more likely than not that this is just what a Trump DOJ would do.

So agree! Amazing Aaron Tang :)

The debate around a national abortion ban also needs to include another nuance: that abortion foes believe there already IS an abortion ban--the Comstock Act--that Trump could enforce day 1 in every state in the country, & that at least 2 SCOTUS justices & JD Vance agree.

Here is the Utah Supreme Court’s 4–1 decision UPHOLDING the injunction against the state’s near-total abortion ban, thereby keeping abortion legal up to 18 weeks. A major victory for Planned Parenthood. s3.documentcloud.org/documents/2502…

Trump said that he'd be "discussing specifics" later but "generally" wouldn't enforce Comstock. The plan, I think, was to leave open the possibility that he *could* in specific cases while reassuring most voters that he wouldn't. Instead, as @aliceollstein explains, it backfired.

While many of us were focused on the federal election, huge developments on abortion unfolded in state court, and more are on the way. I reviewed some of the big moments for State Court Report here:

If you think Donald Trump is telling the truth that everyone wanted Roe overturned, then you can also believe that he won't sign an abortion ban or enforce the Comstock Act as one. Here's some polling on what "everyone" thought" news.gallup.com/poll/393275/st… cnn.com/2022/01/21/pol…

Fascinating to see Lila Rose, a major figure in the movement against abortion, saying she needs to see more from Trump or she won't be voting for him. So far, we haven't seen many demands like this, but interesting to see if that changes. politico.com/news/magazine/…