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Committee amends resolution on pornography to request study after mixed testimony
Summary
After testimony arguing that pornography causes public harm, the House Education Committee amended Senate Concurrent Resolution 4017 to ask legislative management to study whether pornography should be declared a public health hazard; amendment passed 10-4.
The House Education Committee voted to amend Senate Concurrent Resolution 4017 to ask legislative management to study whether pornography should be recognized as a public health hazard. The amendment was proposed after supporters testified that pornography causes societal harm; some committee members said available public-health definitions did not support calling it a public health crisis without further study.
Mark Jorritsma of North Dakota Family Alliance and Christopher Dodson of the North Dakota Catholic Conference both testified in support of declaring pornography a public health hazard, citing harms including addiction, effects on children, and links to trafficking. Jorritsma said his organization is "strongly opposed to the creation, distribution, sale of pornographic materials" and described negative societal effects.
Representative Schreiberbeck (identified in the hearing transcript as proposing the amendment) said she reviewed public-health definitions and concluded that pornography "does not fulfill the public health field's definition of a public health crisis laid out in the Oxford Handbook of Public Health Practice" because it "does not directly lead to death disease property destruction or population displacement" and "does not overwhelm local health systems." She proposed changing the resolution language to direct a study instead of declaring an immediate public-health hazard. Representative Haddleston seconded the motion to convert the resolution into a study request.
The committee voted on the amendment by roll call. The clerk recorded yes votes from Chairman Heinert, Vice Chair Schreiberbeck, Representatives Conmee, Hager, Huddleston, Hauck, Jonas, Longmere, Novak and Osowski; no votes were recorded from Representatives Heilman, Mackie, Marshall and Morton. The amendment passed 10-4. Committee members said staff would work to draft study language for future consideration.
The original resolution included testimony from faith-based groups asking the committee to declare pornography a public health hazard; the amended resolution will instead urge legislative management to examine the evidence and determine whether such a declaration is warranted.
