Utah gov. to sign resolution making pornography a 'public health crisis'

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert will sign a resolution declaring pornography a "public health crisis" at the Utah state capitol today.

The resolution was introduced by Republican state Senator Todd Weiler in January 2015, to battle the “pornography epidemic harming” the state and the country.

The resolution, which was passed last month, calls for increased “education, prevention, research, and policy change at the community and societal level,” to combat pornography.  Anti-pornography group, the Utah Coalition Against Pornography posted on Facebook that the resolution signing marks a “time to celebrate and recognize this historic moment.”

Weiler maintains that the resolution is not a ban on porn or an attack on masturbation, but the first steps toward creating a plan to protect children and families from it.

“Due to advances in technology and the universal availability of the Internet, young children are exposed to what used to be referred to as hard core, but is now considered mainstream, pornography at an alarming rate,” according to the bill. 

Ian Kerner, a psychotherapist and sex expert, says the anti-pornography movement is rooted in a long history of stigmatizing sex and masturbation.

“So much of the anti-porn movement is based on a sense of alarmism," Kerner said, adding that the anti-pornography movement has blurred the line between child and adult access to pornography. “In this country, we really bundle together children and teens with consenting adults, and the issues are not the same for children and teens as they are for consenting adults."

Weiler, who hopes similar legislation will soon be passed in other states, believes that pornography is addictive in nature and aiding in the breakdown of marriage and healthy relationships, The Atlantic reported.

“If you start with meth or heroin, everyone knows that's addictive,” Weiler told The Atlantic. “A lot of people will get kind of lured into pornography, and they don't know it may actually consume their life.”

While there is no question that parents should not allow their children to watch pornography, the claims that science proves x-rated content is detrimental to society aren't fool-proof, according to Kerner.

"We live in a world where just the porn site Pornhub has 60 million viewers a day," Kerner said. "It is a world in which porn exists, the Internet exists, and we need to show our kids how to live in it, and first we need to live in it ourselves, make porn a healthy part of our communication or communicate why we don’t want it in our relationship.

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