Jerry Brown Signs Bill Banning Underage Use Of Tanning Beds But Underage Abortion Is Still Acceptable

In the Democrat mind here in California it is worse for a teenage girl under 18 to go to a tanning salon than to get an abortion. From the SF Chronicle:

Tomas Albert, 17, has a problem.

Though his skin is naturally pale, he prefers to sport a flush of color - especially when on holiday with family in Sicily. Because he tends to redden and burn when he's in the sun, he turns to a tanning bed four times a year.

"It's a lot easier to pick up ladies with a tan," the Oakland teen said.

But the sun-kissed glow coveted by many Californians just got a little harder for teens to achieve. Under legislation signed by Gov. Jerry Brown on Sunday that is now the nation's most restrictive, boys and girls under 18 are banned from using tanning beds as of Jan. 1.

Current law allows minors who are at least 14 to use an ultraviolet tanning device with written permission from their parents.

But state Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, the bill's sponsor, said the higher age limit is necessary because the type of radiation used in tanning beds can lead to skin damage and melanoma, a potentially fatal form of skin cancer.

"Skin damage is cumulative, so the more exposure one gets younger in life, the worse the harmful effects will be," Lieu said.

Texas has banned children under 16 from using tanning beds, and other states have age restrictions. But California has become the first state to completely bar all minors from the practice.

Melanoma is the leading cause of cancer deaths in women age 25 to 30, according to the California Academy of Family Physicians, one of several health groups that backed the bill.

The warnings don't alarm Tomas, who was shopping with friends at American Eagle Outfitters in downtown San Francisco on Sunday.

"I don't think it's that bad," he said...