Is it true that the CDA outlaws putting abortion information on the Internet?
It’s true. One section of the CDA confirms that the federal postal obscenity law, first passed in 1873, applies to cyberspace. That law included a section which hasn’t been enforced in decades, but which is still on the books, making it illegal to pass abortion information across state lines. Congressional backers of the CDA claim they didn’t intend to outlaw the communication of abortion information on the Internet, and President Clinton has said that he will not allow the Justice Department to enforce it. Nevertheless, the law is on the books, and could be enforced in a future presidential administration, if it is not thrown out by the federal court.
