BISMARCK, N.D.—North Dakota lawmakers amended a Senate resolution recognizing pornography as a supposed public health hazard, according to a report published by KVRR, a local Fox affiliate. The resolution had already been passed by the Senate.
KVRR reports that the original resolution claimed that being exposed to sexually explicit material on the internet somehow poses health risks. However, a committee voted to amend the resolution compelling the legislature to study whether porn affects people negatively and if the state government should take action against it.
SCR 4017 was introduced by several state senators who were able to secure a “do pass” endorsement from the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Much of the language used in SCR 4017 emulates popular talking points used by the anti-pornography movement, including claims that adults who watch legal porn are perpetuating sexual assault, the objectification of children and the proliferation of sex trafficking.
Not only are these claims false, but they are broadly applied to any lewd, indecent or obscene depictions of sexually explicit activity. One common element of these pornography public health crisis resolutions is the lack of differentiating between illegal and legal materials.
“The movement to declare pornography a public health crisis is rooted in an ideology that is antithetical to many core values of public health promotion and is a political stunt, not reflective of best available evidence,” argued Kimberly M. Nelson and Emily F. Rothman in 2020 for the peer-reviewed American Journal of Public Health.
