FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky is joining a handful of other states that have or are seeking to put porn on a blacklist.
A Kentucky lawmaker, state Sen. David Givens, has introduced a resolution in his state that would recognize porn as a “public health crisis.”
So far, five states — Florida, Utah, Kansas, Tennessee and Virginia — have voted on passing such resolutions. And others, like Idaho, are considering to vote on such a proposal.
Similar to other symbolic resolutions either approved or on the table to be approved in other states, Kentucky’s language in SR170 has it resolving to “recognize pornography as a public health crisis, acknowledge the need for education on the harmful effects of pornography, encourage prosecution of obscenity and exploitation offenses, and commend law enforcement efforts to fight Internet crimes against children.”
A copy of the Kentucky proposal also includes a paragraph that regards adult entertainment businesses as those that that ply in “the obscenity industry.”
“The obscenity industry considers the line of legality to be drawn by prosecutors, not by legislators, and pornographers in many parts of the country responded by self-regulating when federal obscenity laws were enforced,” SR170 says.
SR170 was introduced in the state Senate earlier in the month and moved on to the Health and Welfare committee.
Kentucky is the 37th most populous state with 4.5 million residents.