Oklahoma Republican State Senator releases proposal to ban pornography
US: A Republican state senator from Oklahoma has proposed eight proposals “aimed at restoring moral sanity,” including ones that would outlaw no-fault divorce and make it illegal to possess a variety of pornographic materials.
Senator Dusty Deevers proposed the proposals on January 21 in reaction to what he described as “the left’s century-long assault on morality and decency.”
The Significance of It
A May 2022 study by the Institute for Family Studies found that 58 percent of Americans reported having seen pornography at some time in their life, including 27 percent in the previous month. For males, this number rose to 44 percent.
Critics contend that criminalizing such a common practice would violate the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech and have significant ramifications for the criminal justice system.
A number of Republican-controlled states have enacted laws mandating age verification in order to view pornographic content online in recent years. Many popular pornographic websites, such as Pornhub, have responded by blocking access from certain jurisdictions, and after the law went into force, interest in using virtual private networks (VPNs) to get around this increased.
Things You Should Know
SB 593, one of eight measures Deevers submitted on January 21, toughens the penalty for possessing child pornography and outlaws a broad range of other pornography.
According to the law, any “visual depiction or individual image” that depicts a variety of sexual actions, such as oral, anal, or vaginal sex, as well as the “lewd exhibition” of bare genital organs, is considered illicit pornography.
It should be noted that the law would not stop couples from communicating sexually graphic photos to one another.
Obtaining, watching, or having illegal pornography is a crime that carries a maximum fine of $100,000 and a possible sentence of 10 years in jail.
Additionally, SB 593 would increase the maximum fine from $25,000 to $250,000 and the sentence for possessing child pornography from 0–20 years in prison to 10–30 years.
Deevers’ other legislation would outlaw drag shows in front of children, prohibit pregnant women from using abortion medications they obtained online, and eliminate no-fault divorce by eliminating “incompatibility” as a defense.
What Individuals Are Saying
“Pornography is both degenerate material and a highly addictive drug,” Deevers said in a news statement.
It kills innocence, wrecks relationships, distorts young people’s views of the other sex, lowers human dignity, erodes the moral foundation of society, and transforms men and women into objects. Any respectable community will use all of its legal might to combat this scourge.
Deevers is: “Trying to pass a grossly invasive censorship bill by trying to link legal adult content, produced by and for adults, with vile and illegal abuse content, hoping it will be enough to sway the public,” Mike Stabile, director of public policy for the Free Speech Coalition, told The Oklahoman.
“Senator Deevers is welcome to choose what books he might read and what movies he might see—he does not have the right to inspect the bookshelves and phones of Oklahomans for legal material he finds morally objectionable.”
Since Deevers’ legislation was just recently presented, it has not yet gotten committee reports, and there is no evidence that the Oklahoma Republican Party as a whole would prioritize SB 593 as a policy. Deevers submitted a similar measure in 2024, but it was never signed into law.
