Kentucky Joins States’ Assault to Boldly Condemn Pornography as Public Health Crisis
Kentucky joins nine other states to boldly condemn pornography. Sponsored by Senator David Givens, Senate Resolution 170 passed by voice vote declared pornography to be a public health crisis, encouraging education on the dangers of pornography and requesting increased enforcement.
States all over the country in the last two years have passed resolutions calling on education, prevention and policy change to happen. Ricky Darr, executive director of the National Decency Coalition (NDC), said, “We are proud of Kentucky’s stance and hope it will set a standard for other states and open the door for much-needed change and education.”
Darr has been educating states on the issue of pornography and helped initiate this resolution in Kentucky. When asked about next-steps to follow, Darr said, “We hope to see internet service providers in Kentucky and all over the country very soon utilize today’s technology and offer porn-free services to customers.”
Right now, parents are expected to shut the giant flow of pornography off at the “faucet” when the technology is available for internet providers to shut it off at the “water plant.” According to Darr, through cloud-based technology, with no additional hardware or software provided, Internet and phone providers could offer Internet services to customers that would block up to 99.98 percent of pornography on the Internet.
He adds, “Internet providers using this technology would be a key answer to the problem of the easy access of internet pornography and would largely put an end to children being exposed.” NDC is gearing up for meetings with Internet providers with hopes of them using these solutions.
Matt Walsh recently wrote five reasons why pornography should be banned. Celebrities such as Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Hugh Grant and Terry Crews have spoken out against pornography in recent years.
Lisa Shanklin, Regional Director of NDC, said “Today’s pornography has changed with the internet. Many parents are concerned with the easy accessibility of online pornography.
Even therapists such as Aline Zoldbrod, Ph.D., are worried about teens viewing internet porn. She says, “Beginning in the 1990s, the amount of free porn exploded; the types of porn available online became even darker and more insidious; teenagers began accessing it, and now we’re seeing the daunting results.”
In addition to Kentucky’s bill making connections between pornography and sex trafficking, prostitution, and mental illness, it “respectfully requests prosecutors to treat the prosecution of obscenity … with high priority.” Many people are not aware that the distribution of pornography is illegal according to federal law.
Pornographic websites and even adult book/video stores violate federal law and distributors could face up to five years in prison if convicted on the first offense. Members of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE), recently met with U.S. Attorney General Jeff Session urging him to enforce obscenity (pornography) laws. NCOSE, based out of Washington D.C., originated the resolution that Kentucky and other states have passed and are pioneers in the movement.
At the rate of which states are condemning pornography, nearly every state in the country could make a similar resolution by 2024. “Pornography is already illegal,” Darr said, “and it’s only a matter of a few years before Internet providers are blocking it, the Department of Justice is heavily prosecuting it, and the industry of pornography and the disturbing stories of children being harmed by it will be on a noticeable decline.” {eoa}
