Oklahoma Senator Introduces Bill to Make Porn Completely Illegal

Dusty Deevers, a Baptist preacher turned Republican Senator in Oklahoma, introduced eight legislative measures “aimed at restoring moral sanity” that include making pornography a crime punishable by a year in jail.

As spotted by Mike Stabile, director of public policy at the Free Speech Coalition, Deevers said in a press release that the bills “set a course for pushing back against the moral decay foisted upon Oklahoma by the far-left’s march through our institutions to destroy the moral foundations upon which the United States and Christian Civilization had long rested.”

Deevers seeks the total abolition of porn by imposing criminal penalties of up to 10 years in prison for production, distribution, or possession of porn and 10-to-30-year criminal penalties for “organized pornography trafficking.” The bill states: 

“No person shall knowingly photograph, act in, pose for, model for, print, sell, offer for sale, give away, exhibit, publish, offer to publish, or otherwise distribute, display, or exhibit any book, magazine, story, pamphlet, paper, writing, card, advertisement, circular, print, picture, photograph, motion picture film, electronic video game or recording, image, cast, slide, figure, instrument, statue, drawing, presentation, or other article which is obscene material, unlawful pornography, or child sexual abuse material, as defined in Section 1024.1 of this title.”

“Unlawful pornography” is defined by the bill, in ironically pornographic detail, as “any visual depiction or individual image stored or contained in any format on any medium including, but not limited to, film, motion picture, videotape, photograph, negative, undeveloped film, slide, photographic product, reproduction of a photographic product, play, or performance in which a person is engaged in any of the following acts with a person: a. sexual intercourse which is normal or perverted, b. anal sodomy, c. sexual activity with an animal, d. sadomasochistic abuse, e. flagellation or torture, f. physical restraint such as binding or fettering in the context of sexual conduct, g. fellatio or cunnilingus, h. excretion in the context of sexual conduct, i. lewd exhibition of the uncovered genitals in the context of masturbation or other sexual conduct, and j. lewd exhibition of the uncovered genitals, buttocks, or, if such person is female, the breast, for the purpose of sexual stimulation of the viewer.” 

Violating this law would be a misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail or a fine of at least $2,000, or both.

“We can and should imagine and move toward a society that celebrates virtue in the public square rather than vice,” Deevers said in the press release. “We can restore normalcy, decency, and morality; we can protect the most vulnerable, restore a high view of marriage, and shield children from explicit material that can warp their innocent minds. We simply must have the courage to stand against the most radical and degenerate elements of the far-left.”

Along with porn (or any kind of sexual expression even outside of the adult industry) those “radical and degenerate elements,” according to Deevers, include:

• No-fault divorce: a concept that’s been around since the 1700s but was first written into law in the U.S. in 1969, resulting in drastically reduced suicide rates among women. Vice President JD Vance has spoken publicly about divorce being too easily accessible, and said during a Christian high school assembly that people shouldn’t be able to “shift spouses like they change their underwear.” In the last few years, Republican politicians in Texas, Nebraska, Louisiana, South Carolina, Oklahoma, and South Dakota have tried, with varying degrees of extremity, to curb their constituents’ rights to no-fault divorce.
• Reproductive rights: Deevers wants to end access to abortion medications by mail in the state. The bill declares that life begins at conception, an unscientific sentiment emboldened by Trump’s executive order “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism And Restoring Biological Truth To The Federal Government” which normalizes the extreme religious belief that fetal tissue has rights.
• Drag performances: Under Deevers’ bill, performers would be subject to a prison sentence of one-to-five years and organizers would face up to one year in prison.

This isn’t the first time Deevers has tried to push his Christofascist beliefs onto constituents through legislation. Last year, he introduced a bill that would have charged Oklahoma women who get an abortion with murder, and within weeks of being in office, he tried to criminalize pornography and was widely mocked for it. At the time, many pointed out that this would make sexting illegal, too—which seems to be the case again, according to the bill’s text.