Senator Todd Weiler
A lawmaker from the state of Utah has introduced landmark legislation asking the state to recognize pornography as a public health hazard.
The NY Daily News is reporting on the legislation introduced on January 29 by Sen. Todd Weiler who is calling for the state to take on the “pornography epidemic that is harming the citizens of Utah and the nation.”
The Bill, known as SCR9 states that pornography normalizes violence and degrading behavior toward women, impacts brain development and can destroy marriages and families. It states that pornography addiction is a genuine crisis and urges prevention, education and research to address its problems.
Even though Weiler has been widely ridiculed for the proposal, he is staying the course.
“Everything in the resolution is supported by science and research. It’s not just a kooky thing that some politician from Mormon Utah came up with. It’s bigger than that,” Weiler told Deseret News.
Research has found that pornography, like cigarettes and drugs, is harmful to society. This study, conducted by the National Institutes for Health (NIH) in 2011, found overwhelming evidence that pornography is harmful to the general public.
“In 2006 world pornography revenue was 97 billion dollars, more than Microsoft, Google, Amazon, eBay, Yahoo, Apple, and Netflix combined,” the NIH writes. “This is no casual, inconsequential phenomenon, yet there is a tendency to trivialize the possible social and biologic effects of pornography. The sex industry has successfully characterized any objection to pornography as being from the religious/moral perspective; they then dismiss these objections as First Amendment infringements.”
However, if pornography addiction is viewed objectively, the report found ample evidence indicating that it does indeed cause harm in humans such as impairing pair-bonding and inciting sexual violence toward women and children.
“With such strong correlative data, it is irresponsible not to address the likely possibility of causation in these regards,” the report found. “Reviewing this data in the context of current usage patterns is particularly concerning; 87% of college age men view pornography, 50% weekly and 20 daily or every other day, with 31% of women viewing as well. The predictive effect of pornography on sexual behavior in adolescents has also been demonstrated.”
Weiler says that even though he was mocked on social medial all weekend by people who disagree with his conclusions, he welcomes the debate. “I believe that’s a discussion we should be having because it’s impacting divorces, it’s impacting our youth, it’s undermining the family,” he said.
Utah has long been troubled by a disproportionate appetite for pornography compared to other states. In 2009, it was named the No. 1 buyer of adult films. A Harvard Business School study published the same year found that more than five out of every 1,000 households in the state were paying for porn.
Since that time, online porn searches in Utah have nearly doubled, according to Google Trends.
Weiler said he believes residents of Utah consume so much pornography online because of the lack of sex shops and stores in the state.
“I think porn is higher in Utah because of the culture here,” he told Deseret. “On the internet, porn is anonymous and it’s accessible.”
And too many children are accessing it there. His bill warns that the average age of exposure to pornography is now as young as 11.
Weiler believes the public perception of pornography is the same today as cigarettes were in the early 20th century. Everyone smoked and no one thought anything of it. His hope is to shift public opinion on the matter of adult entertainment the same way opinion changed in regard to tobacco use.
“Before you pick up a cigarette today, you know that you may be acquiring an addiction,” he said. “I would like people to know that with porn before they approach it.”
The bill will go before a Senate Committee later this week.
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