Utah and Virgina could become the first states to declare porn a public health emergency.
Utah State Senator Todd Weiler wants to prove that watching porn causes emotional and psychological damage. He wants people to be able to sue pornographers for the harm they cause. As well, Virginia Republican Delegate Bob Marshall said that porn is not good for social stability since it hyper-sexualizes teenagers. They both said they don’t intend to ban porn but to create some restrictions to its access.
Todd Wailer’s anti-porn attempts in Utah
State Senator Todd Wailer is Utah’s most prominent anti-porn lawmaker. He received national attention as he led a resolution in 2016 that intended to declare a public health emergency caused by pornography for the first time in the US. Now he is working on a second bill that aims to close a loophole in libraries, to filter out pornography on wireless internet connections, not just wired connections.
According to Wailer, pornography causes emotional and psychological damage in people. Therefore, he wants to limit access to pornography to teens and kids, but additionally, he wants people to be able to sue pornographers for their negative impact. He said that even if the legislature passes his proposals, he expects it will initially reject proposals that indicate pornography causes damages. However, he said that eventually, the tide will turn.
His ideas come from the public-health resolution published by the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, a Washington, D.C.-based group. Wailer admitted he is not surprised to see that other states are considering this raising concern too, and he said that that was also part of the plan.
The center’s executive director, Dawn Hawking, said that she has talked with several lawmakers in different states to push the resolution. Though, she has not talked to Marshall to do so in Virginia yet. Her intentions are to promote public dialogue against pornography and back it up with more research. However, her organization is not saying porn should be banned. She said that the federal obscenity law is tough enough. She has not made comments regarding Weiler’s intention to sue pornographers.
Robert Marshall calls pornography an ‘epidemic’
Tennesse Legislature is also debating similar measures. The Republican National Committee has also raised alerts about the negative link between health and pornography in 2016. Another state where the issue is gaining receptiveness is Virginia. Robert Marshall, a Republican delegate to the Virginia Assembly, backs Weiler’s resolution. If it passes, Virginia could become the second state to declare porn a public health crisis.
“Certain diseases, objectifying women as nothing but sex objects. This is not very good for a society for social stability,” Marshall said.
Marshall’s proposal in Virginia does not intend to ban pornography. He wants the legislature to make a statement to recognize pornography as a problem and the need for education and research for what Marshall calls an “epidemic.” Marshall also says pornography access leads to “sexting” in children.
Source: The Salt Lake Tribune