FRC's Peter Sprigg Testifies Before MD State Senate in Support of Resolution on the Exposure of Minors to Pornography

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 24, 2018
CONTACT: J.P. Duffy or Macie Malone, (866) FRC-NEWS or (866)-372-6397

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Earlier today Peter Sprigg, Senior Fellow for Policy Studies at Family Research Council, testified before the Maryland State Senate in support of Senate Joint Resolution 1, a resolution to declare that the exposure of minors to pornography is a public health hazard within the state of Maryland.

In Sprigg’s testimony he explained the horrifying impact porn is having on our society and why action needs to be taken to combat this crisis, "To understand the harms of pornography, we need look no further than today’s newspaper. Larry Nassar, a former doctor to the U.S. women’s gymnastics team, has listened in open court, on national television, to victim impact statements from over 100 of the estimated 300 young women he sexually assaulted. Last month, however, Nassar was already sentenced to 60 years in federal prison—on child pornography charges.

“The harms of pornography are not limited to child pornography. As the resolution states, exposure to any pornography is ‘a risk factor for . . . sexual offenses and sexually aggressive behavior’—by minors, as well as by adults.

“Pornographers today compete to show ever more extreme behavior. As the resolution states, 42% of males exposed to pornography have ‘viewed pornography that depicted violence against women.’

“We are at a historic moment, when the #MeToo movement has exposed a seeming epidemic of sexual harassment and sexual assault. To put it bluntly, many people are asking, ‘Where did men learn to be such pigs?’ One answer, most likely, is simple—they learned it from pornography.

“How can this resolution change anything? Passage of this resolution might provide strong impetus for public schools in our state to include warnings about the potential harms of pornography in their sex education curriculum. That alone would make this resolution worthy of your support," concluded Sprigg.

Click here to read Peter Sprigg’s full testimony.

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