Those who thought last November’s election meant there would be less intrusion into families and raising children are going to get a reality check with Senate Bill 471. It carries the mom and apple pie title of Youth Skin Cancer Prevention Act and is sponsored by Sen. William R. Purcell (D-Scotland) ; Sen. Eric Mansfield (D-Cumberland) and Sen. James Forrester (R-Gaston). All three of these senators are medical doctors.
With such a good sounding name and being sponsored by medical doctors how could I possibly pick this as the Bad Bill of The Week? For starters it contains the primary requirement that all bad bills start with, a noble purpose. In this case it is to try and reduce the incidence of skin cancer. What it really does is remove parents of children between the age of 13 and 18 from the decision making process of allowing their children to use a tanning facility and instead turns that decision over to the state and a doctor. We have seen this type of effort before as in last year’s House Bill 1726 which may end up banning whole milk and juices from day care centers.
Currently tanning businesses are required to have a parents’ permission to allow a child between the ages of 13 and 18 to use a tanning bed. For children under the age of 13, a doctor’s prescription is required.
With SB 471, however, parents will be removed from the role of ultimate authority and replaced by a doctor. The bill would force children under the age of 18 to obtain a doctor’s prescription in order to use a tanning facility.
Carrying the line of thought that promotes a bill like this to a logical conclusion, you can envision a day when a parent of a child in this age range could be reported for child abuse if their child receives a bad sunburn on a trip to the beach or from a day at the pool.
I thought the 2010 election was about spending, taxes and overreaching government. I guess I was wrong and it was about making sure parents are removed from the decision to allow their 17 year old daughter go to the tanning booth before her prom. Because the 2010 election was about limited government and not about extending the “Nanny State”, Senate Bill 471 is this week’s Bad Bill of the Week.
(Full disclosure: the author has spent far too much time out in the sun and his parents allowed him to get as red as he wanted in the summer. He made sure his children were more careful and allowed them to use a tanning bed.)
This bill is all about doctors creating work for doctors. The three sponsors of the bill are doctors. They want parents to pay doctors to get permission for their children to use tanning booths. Nice racket. They can get away with such a racket because medical licensing gives them a monopoly. If the government had not created a monopoly for doctors with licensing, not only would medical care be cheaper, but we would see fewer bills like this one. (A license is nothing more than the government giving the licensee permission to break the law. That is, the government makes it illegal for anyone to practice medicine unless the government gives the person permission to break this law.)
Children under 18 should not use tanning beds. Period. They are NOT safe. Staying out of the sun and using sunscreen are the only methods of protection from deadly skin cancers. I’m with the legislature on this one.
More govt. intrusion.I agree children should not use tanning beds but this is not up to the govt. to mandate.
Everyone who values your liberty, remember the names of these guys who put this bill on the table and also those who vote for it and vote them out next election. If you want to remain free, you have to stand together, keep yourselves informed and act when elections come up.
My family has traditionally worked outdoors in the sun. There has been only one mild case of skin cancer going back hundreds of years. Government should stay out of this–especially doctors who are creating business for themselves.
This is exactly why we sent Republicans to Raleigh, TO STOP this madness. Government has no business in the lives of families. These Dr.s are looking for a paycheck. I have been misdiagnosed nine times and so that alone goes to show that Dr.s don’t know it all just because they have a piece of paper (Pigskin) and it doesn’t make them king God to tell me what to do. Mr. Dr.s, either go home or pull your bill. This is horrible to think my child would have to put their lives in the hands of strangers. Get real guys.
James
I’ve got a score card in my Word Document and you bet I’m keeping score.
“NO MAN’S PROPERTY OR LIBERTY IS SAFE WHEN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY IS IN SESSION.”
~Author Unknown