ComstockCon

ComstockCon is a convening inspired by the fallout from the Dobbs decision and broader attacks on bodily autonomy.

Originally conceived by co-organizers Kendra Albert and Melissa Gira Grant in 2022 as a way to forecast what enforcement of the Comstock Act might look like without Roe, in the ensuing months, a coalition of anti-abortion, anti-LGBTQ rights, and Christian right groups have been openly calling for the next conservative president to enforce the Comstock Act as a nationwide abortion ban. We must imagine a post-Comstock future.

00:00 - Introduction - Kendra Albert & Melissa Gira Grant
13:43 - A Ghost Story - Renee Bracey Sherman
26:45 - A Brief Introduction to Comstock - Amy Werbel & Mary Ziegler
1:14:12 - Peak Comstockery, mod. Gillian Frank
1:15:47 - Contraception, Abortion, and Reproductive Freedom - Lauren MacIvor Thompson
1:28:00 - Obscenity, Porn, and Freedom of Speech - Andrea Friedman
1:41:38 - Peak Comstockery Q&A
1:54:48 - The (Alleged) Dead Letter Years, mod. Kendra Albert
1:57:28 - Abortion Travel - Gillian Frank
2:15:32 - Pregnancy Criminalization & Privacy - Khiara M. Bridges
2:25:31 - Obscenity post Miller - Jennifer Kinsley
2:35:18 - The (Alleged) Dead Letter Years Q&A
3:07:48 - An Ongoing Haunting: Collecting Reports from the Ground - Amy Littlefield, Nancy Cardenás Peña, Laurie Bertram Roberts, mod. Andrea Grimes
4:15:42 - An Ongoing Haunting: Beyond Roe, Beyond SCOTUS, Beyond 'Enforceability' and the Letter of the Law - Rachel Rebouché, Adri Pérez, mod. Jules Gill-Peterson
5:11:53 - An Ongoing Haunting: Imagining an anti-Comstock Constituency - Andrea Grimes, Jules Gill-Peterson
5:42:45 - Closing Remarks - Kendra Albert & Melissa Gira Grant