M-47 Passes Unanimously!
Motion 47, introduced by MP Arnold Viersen this past spring, asks the Health Committee to examine the public health effects of the ease of access and viewing of online violent and degrading sexually explicit material on children, women, and men and report its findings to the House no later than July 2017. The motion went for a final vote in the House of Commons on Thursday, December 8, and passed unanimously. This study will mark the first time in 30 years that Parliament has studied the issue of pornography in Canada.
A huge thank you to all who responded to our calls to action by sending EasyMails, signing petitions, calling MPs, engaging on social media, and spreading the word about this very important motion! We are so grateful that your voices were heard and that our parliamentary leaders have turned their minds to the evils of pornography.
For a transcript of the below video, please click here.
“I am very excited to report that this past Thursday evening, Motion 47 passed in the House of Commons with a unanimous verbal vote. Motion 47 calls for investigation into the public health effects of online violent and degrading pornography on children, women and men.
As I mentioned on our Fall tour, pornography is a public health concern – this is not just about private individual choices. Many studies demonstrate that there are serious impacts on the health of those who watch pornography by actually rewiring and messing up their mental pathways and embedding abusive views of women in their psyche. Adolescents who viewed violent pornography are six times more likely to self-report engaging in sexually aggressive behaviour, and almost 90% of mainstream sexually explicit content features violence towards women, including hitting, rape and verbal abuse.
The progression of Motion 47 has been incredible to watch. When the motion was first introduced by Member of Parliament Arnold Viersen, it was met with ridicule and jokes. Even up to the moment of the second hour of debate in November, we had no idea what the government response was going to be. We were very excited to see the liberal government come out in support of this motion.
Your hand in this battle cannot be overemphasized. Whether it was the emails you sent to MPs, the phone calls, the encouragement for MPs to attend screenings of the “Over 18″ porn documentary, the screenings you posted or attended in your communities, or the hundreds of petitions with thousands of names that came in over the last few weeks. You were not afraid to voice your support for this motion, and it has paid off in a big way. It was thrilling to see Mr. Viersen present a huge stack of these petitions the day of the vote, evidencing your dedication and your support.
It’s not too often that we can celebrate a good motion being passed in Parliament, but we can thankful that God has brought it to pass. There is still much work to do, but together we are bringing an awareness to the harms of pornography in our society. We pray that this too can be used by God in our country.”
