House panel approves resolution declaring porn a public health hazard

SALT LAKE CITY — After passing the state Senate with ease, a resolution calling pornography a public health hazard appears set for smooth sailing in the House.

The resolution's sponsor, Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, has drawn national attention for his resolution stating that pornography is creating "a public health crisis."

At a House Health and Human Services Committee hearing Thursday, Weiler played clips from "The View" and talked about coverage of the resolution from CNN and the New York Daily News.

"The world is watching what we're doing with this resolution, and I couldn't be more thrilled," he said.

SCR9 states that pornography contributes to the hypersexualization of teens, increases the demand for sex trafficking and has stoked "desire among adolescents to engage in risky sexual behavior."

Weiler said the research to back up the resolution's claims mostly come from a symposium organized by the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, formerly known as Morality in Media Inc.

"I want this committee to know this is not some cockamamie idea," Weiler said. "Some of it's social science, some of it's hard science."

Rep. Rebecca Chavez-Houck, D-Salt Lake City, said the rampant objectification and violence against women and girls in pornography is "very troubling for many of us."

But she argued that resolutions — which generally have no force of law — should be followed by action, adding that teens need safe spaces to discuss sexuality and relationships.

"It's not just talking about, 'No, no, bad, bad, shame, sex is shameful,' but talking about healthy relationships and being very open about what that looks like in terms of informing young people," Chavez-Houck said.

Weiler drew an analogy between pornography and tobacco.

"A lot of people have asked me, 'Where are you going with this? Are you trying to ban pornography?'" he said.

The short answer is no, according to Weiler, but he said that much like tobacco, lawmakers should be trying to limit children's access to it.

Weiler said he supports measures in the U.K. that would make the Internet pornography-free by default and require Internet users to actively opt-in to get sexually explicit content.

That measure is now being challenged by the European Union due to net neutrality rules that requires all Internet traffic to be treated equally by member states.

Rep. Edward Redd, R-Logan, said he was distressed for decades after accidentally seeing pornographic images as a teenager.

When he was 16, Redd said, he accidentally overturned a box of pornographic images with a tractor and saw "naked women flying through the air."

"Those pictures stayed with me for probably about two to three decades," Redd said. "They came back at times. It wasn't like I could control them coming up in my head.

"It took 20 years before those things were to stop bothering me and offending my sense of what was decent," Redd added.

The House Health and Human Services committee passed the resolution unanimously Thursday.

The resolution next heads to the House floor.