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Body-modification bills advanced by House panel
This article was originally published March 21, 2013 at 11:15 a.m. Updated March 21, 2013 at 11:43 a.m.
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A House panel has advanced a pair of body modification bills after adding amendments, including one that reversed a previous portion of the bill that would have banned scarification and dermal implants.
The House Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee unanimously passed the bills by voice votes Thursday morning.
Senate Bill 387 had called for a ban on dermal implants and scarification, drawing concern from the body modification industry. But a representative from the group said the change resolved those concerns.
Dermal implants are decorative items inserted under the skin while scarification involves scratching, etching or cutting designs to produce a scar for ornamentation or decoration.
Misty Forsberg, a body piercer who spoke to the committee on behalf of the Arkansas Body Modification Association, said the two sides sat down Wednesday night and reached the compromise. She said there was a "huge outpouring of people opposing the bill" before, but that allowing and regulating scarification makes more sense than prohibiting it.
"That's fantastic that they saw that," Forsberg said after the votes.
The bill would still give the State Board of Health the ability to regulate scarification and it also would ban subdermal implants, which a representative from the Health Department said poses infection risks and "blurs the line" between body art and plastic surgery.
The bills are sponsored by Sen. Missy Irvin, R-Mountain View, and Rep. Deborah Ferguson, D-West Memphis.
"Everyone has a different idea of beauty," Ferguson told the committee, "but we should try to ensure it's done safely and within reasonable limits."
Senate Bill 388, also passed Thursday by the committee, sets in place regulations for the body art industry, including establishing age limits for getting different forms of body art, putting in place licensing rules and setting other safety guidelines.
The bills affect anyone performing body art other than doctors.
Earlier versions of both bills passed the Senate earlier this month.
Comments on: Body-modification bills advanced by House panel
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RiverFae says... March 21, 2013 at 12:46 p.m.
Banning subdermal implants because they "blur the line between plastic surgery and body modification" has to be one of the stupidest things I've heard in a while. Elective plastic surgery IS body modification. Why ban one and not the other? And of course all this will do is drive people who want one out of state (more lost income for Arkansans) or underground to less sterile environments. Repugs get the legislature and their main goal seems to be butting into other people's lives.
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HOTDEMN says... March 21, 2013 at 2:17 p.m.
" Repugs get the legislature and their main goal seems to be butting into other people's lives. "
You knew he was a snake when you took him in.
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Got2Kids says... March 21, 2013 at 3 p.m.
RiverFae: I think the point is to prohibit NON-doctors from performing the sub-dermal implants. Also, it was NOT the repugs (your word) pushing this bill, it was the Dept. of Health. I think I will go with the Dept. of Health's opinion on this issue. You might want to take a deep breath before you go off half-cocked to the deep end.
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NoUserName says... March 21, 2013 at 3:58 p.m.
You ever dealt with ADH? I wouldn't be so quick to say they are a knowledgeable authority.
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BradBailey says... March 21, 2013 at 4:39 p.m.
Just one of many instances in which Arkansas Republicans value the rights and freedoms of corporations over individual rights. Tax breaks for the rich and deregulation of big business, but ever greater state control over our own bodies via the outlawing of abortion, drugs, body art, assisted suicide, et al. Disdain for the rights of the individual, an obsession with crime and punishment, the protection of corporate power: ALL are the hallmarks of a fascist government.
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lindasue says... March 21, 2013 at 5:06 p.m.
Really??? what a waste of time......screwing the tax payers.
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BillSmith says... March 21, 2013 at 6:51 p.m.
It's my damn body and I will modify it any way I deam necessary period. Where are all of you libertarians?
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gjo1957 says... March 21, 2013 at 7:52 p.m.
Why is the legislature wasting time on this kind of nonsense? I reckon that there are more important things to be considered besides body modification art. Personally I don't care what people want to do with their bodies, even if I do think it looks ridiculous. What these young people don't realize is that age and gravity will always win and what looks good to them at 20 may not look so good at 50. I'm not posting to criticize the modification art crowd but I sure do believe the legislature can find something better to do with the taxpayers time and money.
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CordisK says... March 21, 2013 at 11:45 p.m.
We live in Arkansas. Lets pass a law to carry guns in church and another one to legislate body modification. 'Cause here I have more rights to put a bullet in you than you have to put a scar on yourself.
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