Freedom to travel

I don’t get it.  Or probably more accurately these people don’t get it:

Wash lawmakers want to ban overseas sex tours

By RACHEL LA CORTE
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Travel agents wouldn’t be able to book or sell “sex tours” under a measure lawmakers are considering, following the lead of Hawaii, which signed a similar bill into law two years ago.

Arranging such tours would be a Class C felony, intended to crack down on sex tours to such places as Thailand. Violators would face up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

Sen. Karen Fraser, the main sponsor of the bill, said she wants to help reduce the demand for such trips. While she said she wasn’t aware of any Washington state travel agents offering such tours, she said the state needs to take a pre-emptive stand.

“It is a global moral issue, and we should take every step we can to try and reduce sex slavery,” she said.

Okay, I’m against slavery of any type but not all sex for money involves slavery.  Prostitution is legal in many countries and even some counties in Nevada.  Would this law prohibit a “sex tour” to Nevada too?  Just because these Puritans in the Washington State legislature want something to be against the law everywhere doesn’t mean they have the authority to exercise that control over their citizen when they travel outside the state.  They can’t tell their citizens they can’t use a machine gun or suppressor when they visit Oregon, Idaho, or Nevada.  They can’t tell their homosexual residents they can’t get married while in Massachusetts if they meet the requirements of that state.  If they want to exercise that type of control then they should just be up front about it, put up their own “Berlin Wall”, and make it illegal for their residents to leave the state.

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