Comstockery

On March 3rd, 1873, The U.S. government enacted the Comstock Law. It was meant to stop obscene literature from being sent through the mail as well as restrict birth control, birth control information, and other sexually explicit material.
The Comstock Law was named after its intiator, Anthony Comstock. George Bernard Shaw, an author that was censored because of the Comstock Law, coined the term "comstockery".

Be it enacted… That whoever, within the District of Columbia or any of the Territories of the United States…shall sell…or shall offer to sell, or to lend, or to give away, or in any manner to exhibit, or shall otherwise publish or offer to publish in any manner, or shall have in his possession, for any such purpose or purposes, an obscene book, pamphlet, paper, writing, advertisement, circular, print, picture, drawing or other representation, figure, or image on or of paper of other material, or any cast instrument, or other article of an immoral nature, or any drug or medicine, or any article whatever, for the prevention of conception, or for causing unlawful abortion, or shall advertise the same for sale, or shall write or print, or cause to be written or printed, any card, circular, book, pamphlet, advertisement, or notice of any kind, stating when, where, how, or of whom, or by what means, any of the articles in this section…can be purchased or obtained, or shall manufacture, draw, or print, or in any wise make any of such articles, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof in any court of the United States…he shall be imprisoned at hard labor in the penitentiary for not less than six months nor more than five years for each offense, or fined not less than one hundred dollars nor more than two thousand dollars, with costs of court.

Leading female advocate Margaret Sanger, with her devotion to spreading awareness about contraception and sexual information, created controversy within the United States. She created the Planned Parenthood Foundation we hear of today. Her efforts led to the uplifting of restrictions concerning birth control and sexual information in Comstock Law in 1938.

The Comstock Law is another example of how censorship is deeply rooted in American history. Although the Comstock Law is still technically a federal law, it is not typically followed because society has become more liberal than in the late 1930's. However, censorship advocates still turn to it when cornered by anti-censorship advocates and use it as a loop hole to justify book banning.