I want to write about Representative Kelly Sullivan’s (D-13/Sioux Falls) body-piercing bill, but alas! House Bill 1289 so far has no body to pierce. It is but a hoghouse carcass awaiting the real stuffing of whatever regulations of body-piercing the good Representative from District 13 wants to establish.
Wait—establish? You mean South Dakota doesn’t have any regulations on sticking metal in your body?
Not really, not statewide. According to the National Council of State Legislatures, we have a law against tattooing kids without Mom and Dad’s consent (hmm… can Mom and Dad tattoo their kids without the kids’ consent?), but that law doesn’t mention body-piercing. The only other statutory mentions of body-piercing leave regulation of such activity mostly to the municipalities, as long as local rules don’t try to undercut the health standards set by the Department of Health.
Rep. Sullivan is surely working hard on some actual language to bring to House Health and Human Services. If we’re lucky, they’ll schedule her fleshed-out bill the same day as Majority Leader Lee Qualm’s (R-21/Platte) still-pending radical anti-vaccination bill, HB 1235, which would afford us the chance for a splendid juxtaposition of views on bodily autonomy.
Wait—establish? You mean South Dakota doesn’t have any regulations on sticking metal in your body?
Stick a shiv in yer neighbor and see what happens. I also assume there are laws regulating the way wounds are stitched or stapled.
Anyone with a daughter around 12 years old, give or take a year or two, is going to be lobbied to let her get her ears pierced. My girl, who screamed and cried when she had to get a vaccination a few years earlier, was begging me to let her have a hole punched in her ear lobe. She got it done at some bling shop at the Rushmore Mall. They had ‘tween girls lined up, with Moms there to give permission. I think we had to sign some papers, but I can’t remember, as I was getting light headed just thinking about it. Thank the nonexistent Lord, that’s where my daughter stopped with the piercing, though she threatened to get a tattoo once. At least my daughter asked and had the sense not to let her friends do it during a sleepover.
I think face and tongue piercing was a fad that came and went. I see far less of it now than I did 10-15 years ago. I don’t know about other body parts. Just the thought of it gives me major shrinkage.
“Just the thought of it gives me major shrinkage.” 🤣🤣🤣 Made me guffaw!
Once in awhile I see people with multiple facial piercings other than ears, but it’s rare. I believe there may be more pierced nipples, both female and male, than we think based on my conversations with a tattooist and piercer friend. That gives me shrinkage! 😲
This is a law that will take some thought. If there are religious exemptions for things like the sundance and Jewish circumcision rites, care must be taken to bar female genital mutilation.
I do think it’s a good thing that people under the age of ____ have parental consent.
I am for male genital mutilation. On Fred Deutsch, Jeff Monroe, Jim Bolin, Isaac Latterell, Brock Greenfield, Lance Russell, ad nauseum.
Bob, that would require that someone actually handle those genitals, and nobody wants that.
Debbo, I’m curious to see which direction Rep. Sullivan takes her bill, so we can see what implications could arise. Right now, we can’t tell if she’s just going to set an age limit, establish statutory health standards, or what.
I’m curious, too. Cursory research shows Ms. Sullivan to be just a normal Sioux Falls woman. Not the Catholic Choke Collar types who promote the hate bills. Wonder what problem she’s got with a person’s human rights to their own bodies?
https://sullivanforhouse.com/about
PS … No need to get close to Doz Nutz. Plenty of hand held portable lasers available on Amazon.
I could do it, with a gloved left hand. And a big grin.
A shame about the Vault, Bob. Kinda takes the breakfasting options there down to the bakery joint, at least by grudznick’s standards.
Porter, I’m sure Rep. Sullivan isn’t out to harsh anyone’s mellow. I predict we’ll see language about safety at the commercial establishments offering this service, not major restrictions.
Bob, what you do with your gloved hand with consenting adults in private is your business. So is what you stick in your body and where you stick it.
This is just another example of how dis-functional our legislature is. Why are legislators (and for that matter the governor) allowed to introduce bills so late in the session? This bill could have been written months ago. This is not something that just came about in the last few weeks. There just seems to be no planning when it comes to legislation in Pierre.
I certainly can understand why the tax payers spend so much defending and covering lawsuits. When legislation is thrown together last minute, what do you expect?
How about the legislature set rules that bills need to be introduced by December 1. After that date they can only introduce a very limited number of bills.
By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail, as the saying goes.
Scott is right: last-minute bills increase the chance of error and judicial trouble, as evidenced keenly by Governor Noem’s anti-protest bills last year. The longer bills are out in the open, the longer everyone has to scrutinize them, point out flaws, and propose amendments that will better solve problems.
It would be nice to have some two-thirds-vote rules around hoghouse amendments and carcass bills… but such supermajority rules work only if we have a genuine balance of power in the Legislature instead of a one-party monolith that controls over 80% of each chamber.
Well, December 1 is a bit early for a part-time legislature, but, yeah, these bills with nothing in them awaiting stuffing like a Thanksgiving turkey should not be introduced. The problem is the state Constitution allows Legislators to introduce any bill, no matter if it says, “Up yours, I’ll get around to filling this in when I get around to it.” People try to be too cute with these things to show they have learned some legislative chops, but it just shows they aren’t ready for prime time.