Opinions are divided on whether people should be allowed to split their tongues.

Tongue splitting, a procedure that separates the tongue into two separate parts, may not be allowed under legislation sponsored by State Rep. William Callahan, D-St. Clair Shores.

Geography senior Juliegh Hill said having a forked tongue shouldn’t be regulated.

“I think people should be able to do what they want with their bodies,” Hill said even though she herself doesn’t have one.

“I am not one to judge and I don’t think the government should either.

“If it’s harmful to the person, they’re the one that has to pay for the consequences.”

Tongue splitting can cause excessive bleeding, infection, pain and swelling, which can lead to the closing of the airway and ultimate suffocation, said Gary Dwight, an oral surgeon with the Michigan Dental Association.

Dwight said no doctor he knows would consider performing the procedure.

“It’s called the Hippocratic oath,” he said of the ethical behavior sworn by new physicians.

“Our purpose is not to damage patients, which is what this would do.”

Tongue splitting should be allowed, but only in hospitals, said Kevin Tarbell, a manager at Splash of Color Tattoo & Piercing Studio, 515 E. Grand River Ave.

“Tongue splitting is not a piercing,” he said. “It is a surgical procedure. It’s a body modification.

“They should be performed by someone who is properly trained.”

But health officials say there is question of just who will do the procedure.

“There are so many complications that can occur from having this done,” said Tom Kochheiser, the association’s director of marketing. “We don’t think it serves any useful purpose.”

The bill is constitutional, depending on the Legislature’s motivation, said Michael Lawrence, associate dean for the MSU-Detroit College of Law and a constitutional law professor.

“It comes down to whether they are (considering this bill) for health reasons or because they don’t like the way it looks,” he said.

“They have the right to look out for the health, safety and welfare of the people.

“But, if they’re just thinking, ‘These people are deviants,’ that’s not right. They can’t limit people’s expression like that.”

Tarbell contends having your tongue split is no different than getting a facelift or breast implants, but Dwight strongly disagrees.

“Some cosmetic surgery can be psychologically advantageous,” Dwight said.

“There’s no good things, but a whole lot of bad things that come from tongue splitting.”

Lawrence said plastic surgery’s establishment alone proves it isn’t on the same playing field with tongue splitting.

“If the Legislature found that a facelift or breast implants were causing problems, people wouldn’t be able to get those either,” he said.

If tattooists and piercers had minimum standards like cosmetic surgeons, tongue piercing wouldn’t be an issue, said Kris Lachance-Peters, Splash of Color owner.

“If they all were properly trained, they would know that’s not a piercing procedure,” she said of tongue splitting.

“The general public needs to be aware there are no standards.

“Ignorance costs much more than education in the end.”