Lancet’s ‘Protecting Porn’ Opinion Piece Supports 2016 California Condom Ballot Measure

In News by AHF

In a comprehensive July 21, 2015 post on the Lancet’s United States of Health blog, Editor Rebecca Cooney carefully examined the issue of condom use in adult film productions and concluded:

“Performing without a condom is performing between a rock and a hard place.”
Rebecca Cooney, North American Editor for the Lancet

LOS ANGELES (August 6, 2015) Safer sex advocates and individuals affiliated with AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) who are spearheading a 2016 statewide California ballot initiative that would expand the power of Cal/OSHA and local public health departments throughout the state to enforce condom use on adult film sets throughout California were heartened by an opinion blog piece recently published by the respected medical journal, The Lancet, that lends credence to, and support for the advocates’ push for industry compliance with existing—as well as updated—regulations requiring condom use by performers working in the adult film industry.

In a comprehensive July 21, 2015 post titled, ‘Protecting Porn,’ published on the Lancet’s ‘United States of Health’ blog, Rebecca Cooney, North American Editor for The Lancet, carefully examined the issue of condom use in adult film productions, and concluded: “Performing without a condom is performing between a rock and a hard place.”

Cooney also pointed out, “It is understandable that porn producers and certain segments of California commerce are dismayed at the potential costs of implementing a common sense measure, but the human cost of pressuring adult film actors to work under conditions that continually make them vulnerable to transmission of a preventable infection is unconscionable. Not only are these workers exposed to greater risk, but a positive status can also render them without a livelihood.” She closed her piece stating that, “When it comes to satisfying the qualifications of fundamental public health risk reduction for porn actors, it is time that the rubber meets the road.”

“With all the industry’s hyperbole and misrepresentation around this issue, we greatly appreciate Ms. Cooney’s straightforward, no nonsense assessment in her Lancet ‘United States of Health’ blog piece outlining the public health risks facing adult performers working in the industry without the benefit of condoms,” said Michael Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation. “Condom use already is the law—our state ballot measure simply clarifies and strengthens existing state regulations.

We are easily adding more signatures in support of the measure, and are confident that come November 2016, California voters will overwhelming support this measure protecting these workers.”

In mid-July, backers of the condom ballot measure announced they had collected 371,486 signatures, enough to qualify the initiative for the ballot.
However, as a cushion, the advocates, who began collecting signatures in early April, will continue to collect signatures up until the September 14th filing deadlines, with a goal of collecting a total of between 525,000 to 550,000 signatures for submission to county election officials statewide. To qualify the measure, 366,880 valid signatures of registered California voters are needed (5% of all votes cast for governor in the most recent statewide election, which was held in November 2014). After the signatures are certified, the ballot measure will appear on the November 8, 2016 California presidential election ballot.

The measure is intended to prevent thousands of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) that occur in performers each year in the industry and comes after nearly two dozen adult performers became HIV-infected while working in the industry between 2004 and 2014.

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