Ill. lawmakers take on 'eyeball jewelry'

[Ian David]

Ill. lawmakers take on 'eyeball jewelry'

By Mary Tallon, Associated Press Writer | March 4, 2005

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Some Illinois lawmakers want to make sure the twinkle in your eye doesn't come from jewelry.
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Repulsed by a body modification offered at a Dutch institute -- where tiny metal hearts and half-moons are surgically embedded in the whites of the eye -- one lawmaker has proposed banning the practice in Illinois.

A House committee Thursday approved legislation that would make it a felony to implant jewelry in someone's eye.

"I don't think anybody should be messing with the eyeball," Democratic Rep. Kevin Joyce said Friday.

The procedure involves making a tiny slice in the membrane covering the eye and slipping in a small, flat piece of metal. The result is a shiny shape in the white of the eye. The procedure is performed under local anesthetic.

More:
http://www.boston.com/news/odd/articles/2005/03/04/ill_lawmakers_take_on_eyeball_jewelry/

[seventythree]

1. pretty stupid thing to do to yourself

but I also don't like big brother telling me what stupid thing I can/can't do to myself, either -- unless the cost of fixing it means a medicaid payout, then Big Brother has a point.

[KharmaTrain]

4. It Might Not Now, But It Might Later

This procedure is strictly cosmetic, and if some goofball wants to do this to their body, big brother shouldn't interfere.

The line gets drawn from when their self indulgence becomes our expense...say if this procedure leads to premature blindness or some other disability 20 or 40 years down the road we aren't aware about...then we have a healtcare system that will have to take care of these problems and the taxpayers, and specifically the states and up carrying a large portion of that expense.

The problem is this lawmaker hasn't differentiated the financial aspect from the "personal expression" one (local TV had fun with this last night) and looks like some grandstanding by a bored legislature.

[ryan_cats]

2. Pretty stupid to screw with your eyes but

It's pretty stupid to screw with your eyes but, hey, if that's your gig, go for it. Do we need more laws to protect us from ourselves?

[Ian David]

3. I agree people should be allowed to do what they want, but...

I also have a problem with paying Medicare to heal them, and paying for their guide dogs, etc.

ON THE OTHER HAND...

I would also rather not pay to treat someone who has lung cancer from smoking.

And should we pay to treat someone injured while skydiving?

Who contracts AIDS through un-protected anal sex?

Who went skateboarding without a helmet?

Who got hepatitis from a tattoo?


Should it be legal for people to do those things?

Should it be legal, then, to put stupid jewelry in your eye?

Damn, I hate it when there are no easy answers!