Bill Seeks OK of Parents for Body Piercing

SACRAMENTO — Madonna pierced her navel. Axl Rose put a ring through his nipple. And Dennis Rodman, basketball’s baddest of bad boys, poked a hole in his nose.

In case you’ve snoozed through the mid-1990s, body piercing is big, really big. Young people, especially, have embraced the art, puncturing the tongue, eyebrows and other parts with gusto.

Soon, however, California teens may no longer be contemplating whether to pierce or not to pierce. A Republican assemblyman wants to take that decision away from minors, requiring parental consent before the needle hits the skin.

“I’m not anti-piercing,” insisted Assemblyman George Runner Jr. of Lancaster. “I’m just pro-parents’ rights.”

Runner has introduced a bill that would make it a misdemeanor to pierce a minor without written permission from a parent or guardian. All body parts--from earlobe and lip to bellybutton and beyond--would be covered if the bill becomes law.

A newly elected assemblyman, Runner never imagined that body piercing would be on his agenda when he took his seat beneath the Capitol dome. “I don’t recall highlighting it in my campaign speeches,” he quipped.

But Runner--father of an unpierced son and an ear-pierced daughter--quickly got interested in the topic when a constituent called with a complaint. The caller, Loretta Rollins of Santa Clarita, said her 16-year-old daughter had managed to get her navel pierced without Mom’s approval.

“I couldn’t believe that someone could legally stick a needle in my kid without asking me first,” Rollins said. As she found out, there is no law governing the piercing of minors, although some shops have adopted policies requiring that parents give their OK.

“It seems to me there are some decisions that a parent should be involved in,” Rollins said. “Like this one.”

Reportedly contrite, young Natalie Rollins has removed the offending ring from her bellybutton, a task that required pliers. The teenager is rubbing Vitamin E oil on her midriff and hopes the red mark left by her piercing adventure will soon fade.

Assemblyman Runner is worried about piercing problems that go beyond the cosmetic, and health experts confirm that he has reason to be concerned.

An ancient tradition in some cultures, body piercing is not harmful if done safely. Once a hole is made, a bar or ring of inert metal--gold or corrosion-resistant steel--is inserted, and skin soon regrows in the channel, closing the wound.

But problems can occur with improperly placed piercings and equipment that is not sterilized. Beyond basic infections, which can be easily treated, HIV and hepatitis can be spread through needles reused and not thoroughly cleaned.

Also, piercings in some locations can be inappropriate for young bodies that are still maturing. And scarring, nerve damage, speech difficulties and numbness can occur if the piercer is not a pro.

“This is a procedure that can have long-term effects on a child’s body,” Runner said. “It’s not like changing toothpastes.”

If the bill becomes law, it will mark the dawn of regulation in California’s body piercing industry, which has operated without standards for training, sanitation and equipment sterilization.

Several veteran piercers said they already require parental consent and welcome the Runner legislation. Indeed, some urged him to go further, requiring a parent to be present for the piercing.

“The problem is, you’ll get a lot of fake parent signatures,” said a woman who goes by the name “Cross” and owns a Los Angeles piercing salon called Primeval Body. “I stopped doing kids under 18 because I don’t want some pissed off father coming in here and threatening my livelihood.”

Michael Hare, owner and senior piercer at The Exotic Body in Sacramento, has been visited by some of those “pissed off fathers” and thus only pierces minors with a parent’s permission.

Hare, who sports five pierces in his ear, and one each on his nipple and genitals, said what’s really needed are rules requiring licensing and sanitation standards--regulations that would purge the industry of unscrupulous amateurs.

“I can’t tell you how many botched piercings I’ve had to fix,” Hare said Thursday, pausing between a navel pierce and a “tongue stretch”--in which a hole in the tongue is stretched to accommodate wider jewelry. “We’ve got to get some regulations before some senator’s daughter gets hurt and the whole industry comes to a screeching halt.”

The Assn. of Professional Piercers, a San Francisco-based group, endorses that very goal. In 1995, a bill enacting regulations for piercers passed the state Legislature but was vetoed by Gov. Pete Wilson, who said there was no evidence of a significant health threat.

The bill’s author, Assemblywoman Valerie Brown (D-Kenwood), said she may revive the legislation this year. Several other states--Kansas, Arizona and Oregon among them--have adopted laws that include parental consent requirements and regulations like those proposed by Brown.

So far, Runner has received no formal opposition to his bill, though he has not polled teenagers, some of whom may feel that getting a note from the folks takes some of the thrill out of getting pierced.

Carrie Cockrell, 20, wanted to get her navel pierced long before she turned 18, but “Mom said no way.” Mom still says no way, but on Thursday, Cockrell fulfilled her dream anyhow, paying Hare $55 for a jeweled green bellybutton ornament, which she will conceal in the presence of her parents.

“I think it looks sexy,” Cockrell said, admiring her belly in a mirror as Hare reminded her to wash the wound daily. “I’m gonna come back in a few weeks for a tattoo.”