Indiana lawmakers advance bill to ban eyeball tattooing

("Look Into the Eyeball" by robmcbell, CC BY-SA 2.0)

An Indiana House panel has advanced a proposal that would effectively ban the practice of eyeball tattooing.

The bill by Republican Sen. John Ruckelshaus of Indianapolis was approved Monday by the House Public Health committee on a 10-0 vote.

It would prohibit tattooists from coloring the whites of an individual’s eyes, although an exception would be made for those done by licensed health care professionals.

The measure was proposed following a flurry of news reports last fall about a Canadian model who had major complications from getting her eyes tattooed purple.

Ruckelshaus says he’s not aware of any problems in Indiana. Oklahoma is the only other state that has a similar law.