By John Celock
Kansas lawmakers are a step closer to becoming the next state to declare porn a public health crisis.
The state House of Representatives advanced a non-binding resolution Wednesday to declare porn a public health crisis. The resolution has been gaining support amongst Republican lawmakers across the country with legislative chambers in Tennessee, Utah, Virginia and Arkansas all adopting the resolution. Supporters of the measure say that porn consumption can be addictive and lead to cognitive issues, along with a rise in prostitution, child sex abuse and human trafficking.
“We know from the science that porn works on the brain like a drug,” Rep. Chuck Weber (R-Wichita) It is like cocaine or opioids. It impacts how we function.”
Weber said that scientific research shows that porn consumption can increase prostitution, divorce, violence against women and human trafficking. He said that it is important to start addressing the issue and that the public health resolution was an important first step. He noted that a report from Johns Hopkins University on the subject also documented that porn use leads to sexual exploitation of children.
Rep. Randy Powell (R-Olathe) spoke about his own experience with porn addiction and how as part of his recovery he has worked as a peer counselor for other addicts. He said that he has seen many of the negative effects of porn addiction, including men who cannot form romantic relationships with women.
“I have seen people caught up in the web of addiction. What begins with a psychological thrill ride ends with a chemical reaction,” Powell said. “I have known men that cannot entertain the idea of having relations with a real person.”
Weber, who was carrying the resolution, found himself being questioned by Rep. John Carmichael (D-Wichita) on the impact of the resolution and what was considered porn. Carmichael wanted to know if written descriptions of sexual acts would qualify as porn under the standards of the resolution, Weber said this would depend on the case.
Carmichael also asked if references in Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” about sexual scenes could be taken as porn, along with Michelangelo’s Statue of David and a mural in the state capital that includes partial exposure of a woman’s breast. Carmichael also asked if depictions of racial lynching’s in writing could be defined as pornography.
Weber said that it would come down to community standards and that he did not believe that Shakespeare, murals, descriptions of lynching’s or 16th century Italian statues would qualify as porn, since he said the community would not consider any of those to be pornographic. Weber said that he believed that “Kansas common sense” would prevail in any decision on what is considered porn.
Weber took issue with Carmichael’s detailed questioning on the definition of porn.
“This example and others borders, with all due respect, on the ridiculous,” Weber said, after being asked about the Statue of David. “What we are talking about here is the exploitation of the human person, particularly our children. This goes beyond literature and art.”
Carmichael said that he was concerned about the ramifications under the First Amendment and wanted to make sure that the resolution, which would not create porn regulation in the state, did not infringe on the First Amendment, along with artists and writers. He said that he is against pornographic descriptions, including violent images.
“I too condemn the generic and graphic representations commonly described as pornography,” Carmichael said. “The difficulty is that in a free society we have a First Amendment right to free expression. We have a First Amendment right to read and learn even with things we disagree with them.”