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RICHMOND, Virginia, February 21, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) — Following Utah's lead, two more states have acknowledged that pornography not only harms its users but has hit “crisis” levels in the United States.

In a landslide 82-2 vote, the Virginia State House passed a resolution expressing concern over the devastating effects of porn on users and society at large.

In a unanimous vote in the State House (65-0) and State Senate (35-0), South Dakota also recognized online porn as a “public health crisis.”

The National Center for Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) noted that the anti-porn resolutions will “pave the way for greater awareness and national dialogue on the issue.”  

The organization predicted that the resolutions will “lay groundwork for future legislative efforts to protect children in publicly funded schools and libraries from being unintentionally exposed to pornography.”

“The momentum is building, there’s no doubt about that,” a spokesperson for Fight the New Drug said. “We applaud … efforts to educate the world on the dangers of pornography and … raising awareness on the harms that come from … exposure to porn.”

Last year, Utah became the first state to officially recognize that pornography is creating a “public health crisis.” Utah Gov. Gary Herbert signed a non-binding resolution that recognizes porn can impact brain development, increase risky sexual behavior, and lead to sexual addiction.

The Utah resolution was authored by state Senator Weiler, who says pornography is “like the 1950s of nicotine and tobacco today.”

Gov. Herbert said the pornography resolution is “sounding a voice of warning … (because) there are real health risks that are involved with viewing pornography.”

Sen. Weiler says the pornography industry knows its products deeply harm users, spouses, and children, but it puts greed above the well-being of people and society. He advocates laws that allow those harmed by porn to sue its makers.