Did Bachmann Just Call for a Ban on Porn?

(Newser) – Michele Bachmann became the first GOP presidential hopeful to sign an extremely socially conservative pledge that might sorta call for a ban on porn. The pledge, which is being put forth by an Iowa-based group called The Family Leader, is ostensibly primarily about marriage; it’s called “The Marriage Vow—a Declaration of Dependence upon Marriage and Family.” But some, like ThinkProgress, have been criticizing it for also including a clause condemning porn.

The clause in question is confusing, Mediaite observes. It insists candidates support the “humane protection of women and the innocent fruit of conjugal intimacy”—meaning children—“from human trafficking, sexual slavery, seduction into promiscuity, and all forms of pornography.” That’s not actually calling for a “porn ban,” as some are reporting, but does lump porn together with sex slavery. Other eyebrow-raising things the pledge calls for include:

• "Rejection of Sharia Islam” (Though a later clause calls for a “fierce defense” of “religious liberty”)
• “Recognition that robust childbearing and reproduction is beneficial” to the US
• Support for a “cooling-off” period for anyone wanting a divorce
• “Vigorous opposition” to any recognition of “unions which are bigamous, polygamous, polyandrous, same-sex, etc.”